


Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4: The Clusterfuckening

by GreyBoxCentral



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen, Rewrite, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2020-12-22 14:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 56
Words: 192,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21078317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyBoxCentral/pseuds/GreyBoxCentral
Summary: Inaba is a small town far away from the city and is one that is absolutely unassuming and almost rather boring in how dull and peaceful it is.Due to reasons out of Yu's control, they end up being sent there with help from their parents to live with their auntie, Dojima Chisato, and her daughter, Dojima Nanako, where they will then attend Yasogami High. Though Yu isn't sure what the future holds for them, they hope that they will be able to spend their final year in high school in relative peace.





	1. Chapter 0 - Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> <del>This is going to be me trying to rewrite Persona 4 as best to my ability. However, I don't know how long it is going to be, so I apologise for that. I have the fic planned, all of the twists and what have you, I just don't have each individual chapter planned. The other issue is that I don't have any S-Links planned, and I don't know if I need to either.</del>
> 
> <del>As well, updates will be slow because I am in university.</del>
> 
> <del>I want to say that whatever warnings there are in the original canon will also apply to this fic. This fic is based ONLY on the Persona 4 from the PlayStation 2, NOT Golden from Vita. This means Maria is not in this story, nor is any of the extra side-stuff.</del>
> 
> <del>This fic is also not beta-read. I am pretty much doing this all on my own.</del>
> 
> <del>Also, why is this the fic title? Because... tbh I don't have an answer for that, sorry.</del>
> 
> This fic is now complete and released in its entirety!
> 
> **Edit [2020/11/16]:** My fic is now capable of being commented on by both registered and unregistered/guest users! Sorry, I didn't actually realise I had that turned off.

It is early morning, or so they think it is.

Light filters in through a window that stares out into a nebulous void, illuminating a mostly empty room painted in blues that are teetering on the edge of violet. A piano sits in the corner, old yet clean, clearly well-loved, and a microphone stand is but a meter or two away from it. A sofa sits in the middle of the room, an armchair to its right, another more antique-looking sofa directly in front of it, and a coffee table in between them all, and on the first sofa sits a young man no more than four years older than them.

His hair spikes out oddly in all directions, yet looks extremely soft to the touch. Absurdly, he wears a tuxedo jacket on top of a grey school uniform jacket atop a white tank top and wears ripped and worn bright blue jeans. He crosses his legs, revealing sneakers with thick outsoles and dark purple socks. Everything about the man is unappealing yet oddly pleasing to the senses, exuding a sort of boyish charm that entices them and they find themself drifting over to him almost against their own volition.

Their shoes ring, loudly, in the empty room and the man is quick to look up from the documents in his hands as they scuffle over. He sighs, annoyed, and his hoop earrings swing with each minute movement of his head while he sets his documents down – his long fingers settle atop the papers and reveals to them the silver ring decorated with an opera mask on his left pointer finger.

They look up into the sharp, gaze of the handsome, pretty man. Blue lipstick paints the mouth that curls downwards into a disappointed frown and they flinch at the disapproving gaze.

“Are you another stray soul?” the man asks, his voice soft and husky, and they come to an abrupt stop a few feet away from the sofa. “I’ve told them both that the Velvet Room’s too unstable as it is right now, I wish they’d listen to me mo–” he comes to a stop once he takes a good, proper look at their face, his eyes inspecting them near critically that they begin to sweat.

He stands, slowly, up from the sofa while staring them down, leaving his documents unattended as he squints his eyes, as if to recall their face. They are pretty sure that the two of them have never met before, though. After some time, his eyes widen to the size of dinner plates and he points at them, recognition dancing on their expression. “Oh, wait, no. You’re meant to be here. My bad.”

They open their mouth, but close it quick after when the man turns away and starts looking through his documents again. The frown takes over his surprised expression once more yet it doesn’t take long for victory to paint over it when he seemingly finds the document he seems to be searching for. He turns to face them fully, his footsteps deliberate and stride long as he walks over to them.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” he says while a gentle, disarming smile spreads on his face, his gaze warm and kind, and they find themself flustering over their gentle expression for no reason, “I am your host, Toudou Naoya, but just Naoya is fine. It seems I’ve finally managed to summon you up while you’re dreaming. Nice to meet an attractive man like me, isn’t it?” he grins widely and they find their shoulders slumping in relief and their eyes soon rolling. Naoya, in turn, tilts his head more at the display of relief than the eye roll.

“Did you think I was going to hurt you?” he asks, more curiously than worried. They shake their head.

Naoya laughs regardless. “Your reactions tell me otherwise, but I’m not really here to try and be appealing to you right now, sorry. You’re going to wake up any time soon, and I don’t got a lotta time to figure out how to summon you again when you do. I’m not really that used to doing this.” he gestures to the papers in his grip once more then he reaches up and flicks his hand, bringing to existence a ballpoint pen. It clicks satisfyingly with a press of Naoya’s thumb.

“You’re going to the little town of Inaba, aren’t you?” he asks and continues on before they can answer, “I already know you are, it’s the reason why I’m talking to you in the first place. Lucky you, huh.” he rolls his eyes. They have to fight back the affronted feeling at the sight and mentally count to ten to not snark him out. “I’m here to make you a deal, and to hopefully convince you not to go. Because if you do, then _*%%$@!@$#2@$#@!(#%@#$$@!, _so I think it’s best if you don’t.”

They cross their arms and raise their head defiantly against him.

Naoya’s smile never falters. “So you’re going to go anyway? I figured. You and _M---k- _were the same that way, always thinking _%$@%$#(^)%#^$@_. _–y-_ too, though I felt really terrible for her. I liked _\--y-_ more anyway. Both of them were better than that… creepy Minato person.” he shakes his head, then scratches the back of his neck with the pen. They shrug at him and Naoya smiles sheepishly in response.

He straightens up soon after, trying to look serious as he does. “Sorry, I’m going off-topic. Anyway, well, I can’t force you not to go – I can’t change your mind or your cognition, that’s reserved for someone else who comes some years after you.” they tilt their head to the side. Naoya treks on. “Well, if you’re gonna go, you have to make this deal.” they furrow their brows. Naoya shrugs. “Sorry, that’s the rules! If you don’t wanna sign the deal, you can just… not go?”

Silence.

A bit more.

Some more moments…

Naoya laughs. “Right, of course not. Do you want to know what the terms are? It’s short. You can read them for yourself,” he says that, yet at the same time that they begin to read through the contract Naoya starts to recite it,

“_You agree that all actions you commit are of your own responsibility. You agree that you shape your destiny, and that failure or success are valid outcomes. You agree that you shall act as a conduit for which all other Personas shall be granted. You agree that you will *^&# *@$) !@#% *% !2 at the end of *)($ !@#$#. _Really heavy terms, aren’t they? That last one’s really important and you can’t, _can’t _forget that.” he settles his free right hand on his hip, pen between his fingers, and his watch slips down enough to reveal its cracked surface and ruined band. They look up at him blankly.

He smiles in a way that makes him look like an air-headed idiot than warm and nice. “Don’t forget some of the stuff I told you, okay? It’s really important you remember them. You _cannot _forget.” he stresses once more.

They nod their head, uncertain behind the conviction of his words and even a bit confused as to why he keeps insisting. Naoya breathes a sigh of relief. “Good, I’d feel terrible if you made a deal and you didn’t even realise what you were agreeing to.” he laughs. They can’t bring themself to join in. Naoya doesn’t seem to care, anyway. “If you understand and refuse to turn away from Inaba, then you just need to sign here,” he points at the bottom of the document with the pen then passes it over to them, “first name last name, or last name first name. Whichever you prefer. You just have to tell me, even though I already know who you are.”

His words makes their heart stop in place for a scant second, before it starts up all over again and they gasp loudly. How does he know?

“I’m going to sign off last name first name,” they say finally, their voice a cracked hush in the air as words force past a dry, frail throat. Their voice startles Naoya briefly, but he shrugs and gestures at them to take the document. They look at the coffee table and Naoya steps aside to let them through and sign it as they are required to do. Their hand trembles as they hold onto the pen and Naoya leaves them be for a moment or so, just to let them take in deep breaths and steel themself for this agreement.

In bold, messy handwriting, their name stands stark against the white contract as the pen slides on the parchment:

_I, **Narukami Yu, **agree to this contract set before me._

The paper before them begins to glow a bright blue, their name burning into the print, and Yu sits up in surprise as the document rolls up on its own and disappears. Naoya soon re-enters the room, contract in hand, and a strange expression on his face. “You’ve made the deal. Do you have any last questions before you have to wake up?” he puts the document underneath his armpit so that he may check the time, nodding his head as he does so. “You should wake up in around ten minutes, just for your information.”

Yu sits there, for a moment or so, then they steel themself and straighten their back, their long hair falling in a curtain around their head and down their shoulders. They take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and then ask,

“What… are Personas?”

Naoya scratches his cheek and bites down on their lower lip to stifle laughter, shifting on the spot as he says, “well, there’s probably an actual academic explanation for that. Maybe it’s Jungian, maybe it’s Greek, maybe it’s literary. But the one you’re asking about… isn’t academic at all, now, is it?” he looks up at Yu through his long eyelashes, a coy smile playing on his lips.

_“Why don’t you wake up and find out?”_

* * *

Yu yells out in surprise as they suddenly jerk back into reality, their arms and legs flailing as they roll over and land on the floor with a loud _thud. _Footsteps rush over to their room door and they look up into their distressed mom’s gaze as she wrenches the door open, her hair a mess and her clothes askew. Behind her, their dad stands, squinting as he tries to adjust to the dark without his glasses.

“Sweetie!” their mom cries out, “are you okay? Did something happen? Do you need anything?”

They run their hands through their long hair, a pang stabbing them in the heart when they realise it won’t be this way for much longer, and manage to crawl back onto bed. “I had a nightmare, mom,” Yu says apologetically, trying to be as confident as possible to get their parents to bed sooner so their rare moments of sleep aren’t disrupted. “It wasn’t anything serious, I promise.” it takes a bit of fretting before their parents leave them and to go back to their rooms, comforted with the fact that nothing actually happens to their sweet child.

The click of the door closing does nothing to soothe their nerves, especially not after they think back to the odd dream they have less than even ten minutes ago. A contract? Persona? And the man wants them not to forget things they have already forgotten…? They feel the details of the dream so close, right at the top of their head and the descriptions on the top of their tongue, but everything is a blur and his voice a buzz in their ears. His words turn into static noises, as if from a channel that does not exist, and Yu winces in pain.

They probably need to eat less before they go to sleep because everything they eat seems to be giving them weird dreams. Yesterday it was some sort of world ravaged by an apocalypse which is caused by a phenomenon that starts with a ‘B’, and tonight this. They really need to take better care of themself. They sigh and then close their eyes to try to drift back to sleep, yet they swear they can hear Naoya’s voice telling them _“Goodnight!” _in the back of their head before slumber overtakes them.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu arrives in Inaba, meets up with Chisato and Nanako, runs into a creepy gas station attendee, and arrives at their new, temporary home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though this update is coming up so soon after the last one, I simply felt it was pertinent that chapter 1 is posted after chapter 0/prologue. After this, I'll try and be a bit more sporadic.

The months leading up to their final year of high school is, perhaps, more nerve-wracking than it has any right to be – as well as unavoidably hectic. Their mom has to take them shopping for new clothes – more pants and shorts, more loose shirts, and later on more and more sports bras to help with the flatter image. They have several conversations with their mom which basically goes, “Yu-chan… I’m so sorry, but you can’t wear skirts and dresses in public anymore, at least until you’re out of high school.” though she still allows for Yu to keep said clothing in boxes, neatly tucked and hidden away from the rest of the world.

Their hair is much shorter now – at first their parents are unsure as to what to even think about their new hairstyle, and then later on they just shrug it off and accept it as is. The person in the mirror is far from the person they remember being at the start of the previous year – but, the person before is also not… and the person now is…

They run their hand through their short hair, their head feeling extremely light and their neck naked and cold.

In a week, high school will start all over again… and on the very weekend before school starts, Yu will be arriving in Inaba to live with auntie Chisato, and her daughter Nanako.

They stare into their own eyes in the mirror, shadows painting their lower eyelids, and they flinch from the expression they are giving themself. _‘Exhaustion isn’t a good look for me,’ _they think while they run their fingers through their hair once more, feeling the strands stroke along their skin only to then stop abruptly, and they fist a hand in their hair immediately after.

Just a few more days before they have to leave for Inaba, and an irrational anxiety digs deep into their chest – not from having to move, no, moving is like second nature to them, but instead from the memory of the dream. It has been months – _months – _since that dream, yet the image of that man still haunts them. Handsome with a boyish face, with weird clothes and an easy confidence, and an insistence on them not visiting Inaba…

Is that just their anxieties manifest as that one dream? They shake their heads. _‘No need to dwell on it,’ _Yu thinks, their grip loosening on their hair, and they sigh, “I just have to go to school.” they say aloud to no one in the bathroom. They let out a long, drawn out sigh. What will this year entail for them, they wonder.

* * *

They find themself on a sofa in a midnight blue room with _Gymnopédie no. 1_ playing on a piano nearby. They flutter into being awake slowly, their racing thoughts soothed with the soft piano playing in the room, and it takes them some time to finally be able to sit up proper. They rub at their eyes when spots appear in their vision, their gaze bleary, and it is on the final blink to clear their vision that they see an arm from the side of their vision gently set a cup of tea down before them.

When they look up they cry out in surprise and jolt backwards into the sofa at the sight of a man with a long, long nose, big eyes, and a bald spot surrounded by white hair. His face seems to be stuck on an almost permanent grin, his suit far too fanciful on a man as frightening as he, and Yu places a hand on their heart.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” the man says, their voice deep and booming, commanding respect from Yu almost immediately, and they stiffen up into proper sitting posture, “I am Igor. I believe you have met the owner of this room already.”

The owner of this…?

“Do you mean Toudou-san?” Yu asks, and a sudden bark of laughter grabs their attention near immediately. They look to the right to see Naoya sitting on the armchair, clad in the same outfit as when they first see him, while holding a curled-up document in his hand. “Where am I?” Yu asks, and then they flush a deep, dark red and they continue on before anyone can answer, “or rather, what am I doing here? This is just a dream, right?”

Naoya waves their free hand over to the side, gesturing at someone, and the soft, lulling tune of the piano comes to a sudden, jarring halt. It doesn’t take long, however, for another piece to be played – one that Yu does not and cannot recognise, one that is so somber and solemn that they feel their heart constrict, and one that is soon followed by operatic singing.

They look over their shoulder and catch sight of the piano, just like back in the first dream, and they twist around to see the singer at the microphone stand – stoic and otherworldly, clad in her black dress that is long, elegant, and seems to stretch on forever on the floor.

She wears opera gloves all the way up to her elbow, her arms extending outwards and palms are turned upwards as if to address a non-existent audience. Her black hair – with one lone white streak – is fashioned oddly, like the waves of an ocean frozen in time while two long, lone strands give the appearance of two horns protruding from her head.

Her voice, however, is undeniably beautiful. They find their breath catching in their throat as they listen to her singing, her expression solely focused on the task and on nothing else. Naoya clears his throat and their attention immediately snaps back to him, their entire body tense.

“Hey, there’s no need to be so awkward.” Naoya says breezily, his expression blank and his demeanour a far cry from the man they first meet. “As Igor has said, welcome back to the Velvet Room. You’ll be heading to Inaba soon, aren’t you?” he fans himself with the document in his hand, his gaze focusing up on the starry sky that is the Velvet Room’s ceiling. “I’ve already explained and told you all I need to, so I’ll be leaving all of the explaining on everything else to Igor.”

He closes his eyes, almost as if he is going to sleep, and Yu looks at him in disbelief. “Well then,” Igor says, his voice breaking Yu out of their thoughts and they look forward to see him heading towards the sofa in front of them, “it is finally a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Narukami-san.”

They scan over the sofa that Igor sits down on and takes in how – unlike the one they are sitting on – golden embroidery lines the deep, dark blue back of the sofa. The sofa they sit on is one with an attached back, and it is just a simple, plain azure in colour whereas Igor’s is a camel back with dark brown legs, looking as old and as antique as the piano in the room.

Now that they think about it, everything about the Velvet Room seems… formal, antique, and if it isn’t for Naoya they almost think it is far too rich and elegant for them to even be here. They fight back the urge to look at Naoya once more. Instead, they clear their throat and try to gather their voice back up again.

“Have you… been waiting for me?” they ask. Naoya huffs in amusement and they catch a glimpse of him crossing his legs and arms, though not before he passes the document over to Igor. “You still haven’t explained this to me. This is a dream, isn’t it?”

Igor’s grin never once leaves his face, only seeming to grow wider as he flicks the document open and Yu gulps when they see their signature on it.

_I, **Narukami Yu, **agree to this contract set before me._

“You remember this contract, do you not?” Igor asks and he rolls the document shut once more before passing it back to Naoya, “please, do not fret. We are not here to make any further changes to the contract, Narukami-san. We are simply here to remind you of the contract, and to give warning of the thorny path that awaits you.”

Naoya speaks up, “you still have the opportunity to… not go, y’know? You can just stay in the big city and maybe live with a different aunt. If you don’t go to Inaba, the contract will be null and void and you don’t have to abide with any of the terms there. Interested?”

Yu hums for a while, as if seriously considering it, then shakes their head when Naoya cracks an eye open to peer at them curiously. He laughs. “Eh, all of us are so stubborn, huh?” he shrugs. Yu eyes him up and down when he says that, taking in the way he slumps and relax into the armchair. “As Igor said, the road ahead of you is gonna be bumpy and difficult. You may even find people along the way who’ll help you, who knows. I do.” he closes his eye once more and they completely sink into the armchair, shutting out the rest of the world.

Igor folds his hands underneath his chin, the grin on his face wide and endless – unsettling, yet friendly. “Though master Naoya is the one who gave to you your contract, it will be I who you will most likely seek out for anything regarding personas and demons.” _What._ Naoya chuckles. “I will not be able to answer all of your questions, of course,” Igor continues on, his voice deep and comforting, like the grandfathers of theirs that passed away too early, “but you and I shall meet again. It had been months since master Naoya –” has it really? Time flies… “—last contacted you. Remember, Narukami-san, all will not be as it seems.

“Keep your mind and heart open, for you to close them now shall _^%$@&%$(#(*^@$!#_. Goodnight.”

Naoya reaches forward and picks up the neglected cup of tea on the coffee table, a flirtatious smile on his face as he looks at Yu before he then sips his tea.

The piano music stops, and so too does the singing.

“Sleep well, young one.”

* * *

The train ride to Inaba is a long and arduous one. It starts out packed and uncomfortable and only slowly, slowly trickles down to manageable when they are but an hour away from Inaba. They pass by news about scandals and politicians, hears people gossip and whisper among themselves about it, though they don’t really pay much attention to it. They mostly stare at their phone while they ride the train, looking at their parents’ last messages to them before they send them off to their aunt.

_“No matter what happens we love you” _is what the final text from their mom says, with their dad’s being _“we will always support you. If things get rough, call us and no matter what the time we’ll try and send you somewhere else. We love you.”_

It makes the trip to Inaba seem… less daunting, less empty. It isn’t as though this is the first time they have to travel and leave, but this time it isn’t only because their parents cannot leave a minor unattended in the house – no, this one is a combination of factors that Yu hopes will be forgotten with their time in sleepy, unimpressive little Inaba. The only thing that seems to be of note in the town is the Amagi inn, though they don’t know if they want to visit it when all of the latest news surrounding that place seems to be about the daughter and how she will become the new manager after her mother. Some of the articles are… too… prodding for Yu’s taste.

Well, whatever. It isn’t like they are going to Inaba for tourism sake. With that thought in mind, they close their eyes and lean against the wall of the train, letting the trip jostle them and the motions vibrate through them, their body suddenly heavier than it has ever been before. They are… so tired, so very, very tired.

_“Inaba is the time where you can start anew.” _their dad says, though the look in his wise, grey eyes are completely apologetic. _“Every time we all move, it’s a time to start anew. Doesn’t that sound good?”_

_“I guess so?” _the Yu of then answers uncertainly. Their dad laughs and claps a hand on their back and then turns around to continue his work. The Yu of now doesn’t know what to think though.

They really, really don’t.

After a station transfer and a bit more of commuting, they find themself in front of the Inaba train station just around the time the sun is going to set – darkness will fall over the town and its inhabitants soon, telling them that it is time to rest and begin the next day. For Yu, that means starting in their new school with their new life. They look around, taking in the rather dull and drab environments and the surprisingly dense fog, and they nearly trip over themself when they nearly run into someone.

A short woman – shorter than Yu only by a few centimetres, if they are to hazard a guess – stands before them, her brown hair tied into a messy bun and a smile on her face. Holding her hand is a young girl in a pink dress, the colour the same as the one the woman wears though the design of her dress is different, and it takes Yu but a second to recognise who it is that they are standing before. They back away a little and give a shallow bow, the tips of their ears burning bright when Chisato begins to laugh.

“Yu, it’s good to see you.” she says when Yu straightens up again, the smile on her face infectiously kind, and they can’t help but return the gesture. “I’m Dojima Chisato. You remember me, don’t you?” she asks sweetly, though her tone is light and gentle, as though not expecting Yu too. They sink a little into their shoulders. Chisato just waves it off. “Don’t worry about it – the last time we saw each other, I was babysitting you while you were still just a baby. It’s good to see you again after so long.”

They nod. “It’s good to see you too auntie.” they turn towards the young girl who immediately yelps and hides behind Chisato, abandoning the grip of her hand to instead grasp the back of her legs with her small, trembling fingers. “Um.”

Chisato gives them a sheepish smile, shifting a little to try and reveal more of Yu to her young daughter, and they awkwardly wave at her when she doesn’t try to hide behind her mother’s legs again. “This is Nanako-chan. Nanako-chan, say hello to your cousin. Come, sweetie, the – er, h – he won’t be upset with you.” they tense up for only a second and are quick to force themself to relax, especially when Chisato gives them an apologetic look. There are people around, after all.

“H – hello.” a shy, soft voice calls out to them and Yu’s smile is absolutely strained when they give a tense ‘hello’ back. They never have been good with children.

“C’mon now, let me help you with some of your luggage. I have the car around back – we just have to grab some gas, and then we can all go back home. Doesn’t that sound good, Nanako-chan, Yu-kun?”

* * *

They stop for gas on the way back – Chisato goes to buy some snacks from the store while the attendee fills her car up and Nanako trails after her, leaving Yu to their lonesome next to the car with the attendee as their only company. They find themself staring, mostly because the attendee’s hair is the same colour of grey as their own, and they look away when the attendee notices them staring. “Are you new here?” the attendee asks after they are done filling the car up and Yu looks up from their parents’ messages to see them right in front of them.

“You’re really close.” Yu says and then takes a tense step back, much to the amusement to the attendee in front of them, “and why do you care if I’m new?” they laugh at Yu, as if their question is absurd even though they personally think it is a very rational question, and they take another step back. Thankfully, the attendee does not follow. A thousand cockroaches crawl under their skin and they try to school their expression to keep the unease from bleeding through.

The attendee does back off, however, and they almost sigh aloud with relief. “I’m only asking because… well, Inaba is very small, after all!” the attendee states cheerfully, their face hidden away by their askew cap, and that doesn’t make this conversation any easier. At the very least, Yu doesn’t have to look them in the eyes. “I know pretty much everyone here, and I’ve never seen you before. Are you a high school student? You look like one.” Yu stays quiet. The attendee prattles on. “There really isn’t much to do here! It’s a very boring place. There isn’t even an arcade here.”

_‘Arcades went out of fashion some time ago, didn’t they?’ _Yu answers internally, and continues to stay silent while they eye the attendee up and down. Without any input from them, the attendee keeps going, “and, well, anyway, you came at such a weird time as a teenager. You probably haven’t heard of the rumour before, have you?”

Yu’s brows furrow together. “Um, no. What rumour?” the attendee whistles cheerfully at their response, grinning as if Yu is saying something really funny, and they almost want to strangle them then and there and go to prison with no regrets. _‘And to think I was supposed to leave this all behind when I left the city…’_

“The Midnight Channel, of course.” they say and Yu’s attention snaps back into the real world, “it’s a rage among all the teenagers, and even some of the younger adults are talking about it. Can you believe it?” they flail their hands wildly and Yu cautiously shuffles back even more, just to be safe. “They say if you watch a turned off television _exactly _at midnight during heavy rain, you’ll see something weird and pretty out of this world. Some say you may even meet your soulmate that way!”

Yu refrains from rolling their eyes. Or at least, tries to. “Thank you for telling me.” Yu says politely. The attendee laughs. Again, Yu is hit with the sudden urge to punch them in the solar plexus upon hearing the hollow sound. Far too many boys around them laugh like that as they try to get closer to Yu, and to hear it from the person before them makes their stomach curl in a way unwelcomingly familiar.

“Well, I mean, that’s about the most entertaining part of this town,” the attendee muses, and Yu is hit with the thought that Chisato and Nanako are taking way too long, “I mean, besides getting a part-time job. Though, most of the jobs are pretty much at Junes. Oh! We’re hiring, if you’re interested!” they smile their way and then reach out a hand towards Yu, and they stare at it blankly. The attendee gives out an exaggerated groan. “Oh, come on! You can’t tell me you’ve _never _seen a handshake before, have you?”

They roll their eyes up to stare at the person before them, seeing only their cap and the lopsided grin.

“I don’t want to shake your hand.” Yu says.

Before the attendee can do or say anything else, Chisato emerges from the little store and they immediately tense up when they hear her voice. Yu stares at them, their hand, and they slowly retreat. “Well, take care,” the attendee says airily, all cheer gone from their voice and their lips a flat line, “it was nice to meet you. Hopefully you work for us, someday.”

_‘I doubt it.’_

* * *

The drive, in total, takes about twenty minutes or so, and may have even taken even longer if Yu is to try to take the bus – but the time it takes to get to their new home is more than worth it if it means they get to sleep, finally.

Chisato’s house is not a big or fancy thing – it is small and in the busy, cramped residential area, but it is almost love at first sight when Yu sees the homey little place. Nanako immediately retreats from them both to go and sit down before the television, and Chisato reminds her to sit farther away as to not strain her eyes. “You have to go to bed by nine,” Chisato says, before turning to Yu and asking, “would you like me to make anything for you before you go to sleep? You look very tired, and you must be starving.”

Yu shakes their head. “No, it’s okay. I’d just like to put everything away and go to sleep, if that’s okay.” they reject Chisato’s offer of help and even, surprisingly, Nanako’s stuttered offer. Their room feels small and cramped with all the boxes, but their heart swells nonetheless when they see evidence of Chisato’s clear, hard work. The room is spotless and the desk neatly arranged, and most of their stuff that has already been sent over is already placed on shelves. Their bed also looks new, and there is a pang of guilt that stabs them in the chest when they see it.

There are some boxes still left over, but Yu is sure that they can deal with it all tomorrow after school. For now, they just want to go to sleep and – hopefully – have an uneventful day tomorrow. _‘I hope the rest of the year is uneventful,’ _they confess quietly in the corner of their mind, in the darkness of their room, _‘I hope… I hope everything goes well.’_


	3. Chapter 2

They walk on the way to school, despite Chisato insisting that she will be able to take them to school on time. Nanako walks with them on the way to school to keep them company, yet she doesn’t talk to them much – every time she looks up at them, she immediately gets shy and tongue-tied and looks away. It is midway through their walk, where Yu is desperately trying to figure out how to fill in the silence, that they have to forcefully grab her and then immediately yank her out of the way of an out of control bicycle being ridden by what looks like a student from their school. If it isn’t for the frantic, terrified yelling of said student, Nanako will probably have been hit and Yu will miss the first day of school having to rush her to a hospital to make sure her cousin is fine.

What a day that will be.

Nanako shivers in surprise as Yu holds onto her protectively, all while the student is still yelling, and their heartbeat calms down enough to let them actually focus on the sound of the boy’s voice.

“Whoa! Watch out! Watch out! I’M SORRY— I’M SOOOOORRYYYYYYY—” the brown-haired student’s voice rings out as he swerves around Nanako and Yu, and then in a series of unfortunate events that even they cannot comprehend he manages to somehow slam his crotch right against a telephone pole, his bike falling to the wayside as result of the collision. He lets out what can be best described as a wolf’s failure of a mating howl (do wolves have mating howls?) and then cups his hands over his crotch, before he then proceeds to keel over while he tries to get over the pain of a smack to the gonads. Yu has to fight back the temptation to take a picture.

They lose the battle. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice Yu snapping a pic on their phone.

Nanako stares on in confusion between the student and them. Yu just grabs her shoulders and eventually gets her to lead them both back on track. She walks with Yu all the way to the fork in the read where they have to part ways, though she shuffles a little on her spot before separating. “Um,” she says softly, her body trembling with nervousness, and Yu has to hold back the urge to ruffle her hair, “mom said that your situation’s really… um… convo – convu…”

“Convoluted.”

“Yeah! And mom said that that means that stuff is really hard for you, and she told me that you’re…” _neither a boy nor a girl, _Yu substitutes in for her. They smile down at Nanako, and she shrinks a little. This is going to take some time. “So, um, should I call you a boy and stuff, when we’re not at home? Be – because mom said I have to call you a boy in front of everyone else, but I don’t… get it…”

Yu shifts then rubs at the back of their neck, wondering how to respond to her innocuous question – it doesn’t make the situation any easier to deal with, not really, but the fact that Chisato is even trying to accommodate for them by explaining to Nanako warms their heart. _‘I really am the luckiest person in the world, huh?’ _“If you could do that for me, Nanako-san, that’d be great.” they say with a gentle smile, trying

She ponders over it for a while, then she looks up and nods, smiling widely – though Yu can’t tell why, “o – okay! I’ll try my best! Um, we have to go different ways here… so… go – goodbye, cousin!”

* * *

Yasogami High looks exactly as it does in the photos they find, which is to say it doesn’t look fancy or old, but it sure is a school. Most of the information they find online are mostly from forum threads with students conglomerating to complain and be annoyed about their teachers. The one thing they can gather is that most of the teachers in the school are actually not that great, which means that studying on their own is probably their best bet. They stall in front of the school gates for a moment longer before they head off to homeroom.

They arrive a few minutes early and it is to the sound of students chattering and gossiping among themselves –

“Have you heard? King _MORON _is our homeroom teacher! Ugh, talk about the worst of lucks!”

“I hear we’re going to get a new student – imagine being new to school and being in your last year and you get King Moron. Of all people! I’d hate to be that student.”

“We ARE that student, dumbass! We’re just not new students!”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean! We’ve had time to get used to him.”

“Oh, I heard the new student’s a boy. Do you think he’s handsome and single?”

“Nanami! Come on! We’re going to school to learn, not to date boys!”

“But still, it’d be nice if he was attractive – wait. Is that the new student!?”

Oh no.

Yet, before the girl can come over to them and try and get anything out of them, Yu is immediately stunned into silence by the loud, grating screech of a man behind them going, _“EVERYONE SIT YOUR LAZY, HEDONISTIC ASSES DOWN RIGHT NOW!” _and they almost rush off to sit down before they remember they are a new student. They step aside to let the teacher step in, and then blanches when they take the man in.

He is an ugly, ugly creature – one that the gods probably made by pure, utter accident and is now regretting his existence. His buckteeth is almost comically inhuman and his jaw seems to be regressing into his skull – he looks like he is balding and that it isn’t treating him well, not that having hair will save this unfortunate man, and he is skinnier than he has any right to be. He walks in a hunch and with weird, gangly movements, as if this body is not his own.

“I’m Morooka Kinshirou, though that is going to be Morooka-sama to you lowlife scumbags – you studying for the entrance exams? Why bother! It ain’t like any of you guys have anything of worth, especially when all you girls would rather just find a boy to settle down with than study and all you boys are too busy chasing skirts! Like this loser next to me!”

Loser?

It takes Yu way, way too long to realise that the loser in question is _them, _and their mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water as they wonder how to react. Most of the students look at them with pity, but they try to keep it brief as to not be caught by King Moron.

“Now remember, this boy here is meant to be studying – not something for any of you lousy girls to cling onto for sex appeal! Understood? Now, loser, stand up and introduce yourself to everyone and find a damn seat!”

“Are teachers allowed to swear?” Yu immediately asks instead of introducing themself, and they kick themself internally when they realise what they have done. King Moron stares at them with wide-eyed surprise. They need to introduce – “and are you calling me a loser? Without me even doing anything?”

They are an idiot of the nth degree and someone is going to kill them on the spot. The students immediately fall into whispers and Yu tries not to face-palm too hard when King Moron looks about ready to explode. Just as he is about to go on a tirade and yell at Yu, a hand shoots up into the classroom and breaks King Moron out of his stupor.

“What? What is it?”

“Um, may the new student sit here? There’s an empty seat.” a husky, feminine voice calls out to him and the teacher nods absentmindedly. All anger gone, he jabs at the seat with his thumb and barks out at them to go sit down immediately. They quietly shuffle over, glad to have that entire ordeal done and over with. They take a seat next to a girl with short, brown hair and a green jacket tied around her hips. She looks at them curiously, as if she wants to say something, and she licks her lips before saying, “hey, sorry. I was just trying to save you there. I’m Satonaka Chie.”

She doesn’t get to say much else after that as King Moron immediately begins yelling and addressing at everyone in the class. Nothing that he is saying is worth noting, so Yu lets themself drift off in the middle of his class while waiting for the period to end.

* * *

The rest of school goes well enough; they don’t end up taking a lot of notes for the first day, as to be expected they think, though at least the other teachers seems to have their heads on straight in comparison to King Moron.

An announcement goes off a few seconds after the last bell from the secretary for the principal, a quick one announcing that students are to stay behind as something has happened and, “in case a police officer speaks to you, do not waste their time with rumours and hearsay”. Almost as if on clockwork, police sirens scream in the distance and Yu looks out towards the windows, out towards the fog-heavy environment, and then scratches their cheek. There isn’t really much to gleam, other than the fact that the incident may be close-by.

Hopefully it isn’t anything too bad.

They rub at their eyes, look to their right, and then nearly kick the chair out from underneath them and bring both desks down when a girl’s face completely overtakes their vision. They yelp out as the chair skids in spite of their attempts to stay in control and the girl squawks in indignant surprise as well, though no one seems to be paying much attention to either of them.

“Holy crap!” she cries out, “I’m sorry!? I don’t know what I did so can you like chill out!?”

“Uh,” Yu blinks rapidly a bit, then clears their throat to try and cover up their embarrassment and the redness of their face, “you were… very close. I’m sorry about that. Can… I help you… or?”

A long, black-haired girl walks up to her and Yu gets the niggling sensation that they have seen her from somewhere before. She looks between them and the short-haired female student, her mouth parting to say something only to be interrupted by the latter student. “I’m the girl who was sitting next to you today,” the short-haired one says and Yu stares at her unblinkingly for a few seconds, “Satonaka… Chie? I sit next you? I talked to you? I saved you from King Moron?”

“I have no clue who you are.” they respond sincerely. Chie looks at them with sheer disbelief. She reintroduces herself again – for the third time, really, and Yu rubs the back of their neck as they introduce themself too, mostly due to being unable to when standing next to King Moron. She stares at them blankly again when Yu doesn’t say anything else, as though expecting them to continue on with the conversation.

They don’t.

Chie stares at them for a long while.

She seems to get over it pretty quickly, especially when she glances to her side and catches sight of the other girl who comes in on them both. “Hey! Yukiko-chan! I was just talking to the new student,” she seems to have gotten over her anger and surprise pretty fast, “and I was just thinking of asking him to join me on my way to Junes!” they try not to wince openly, “wanna come with?”

“Oh, um.” the other girl, Yukiko, glances over to them and eyes them up and down, “let me introduce myself first. I’m Amagi Yukiko,” of the Amagi inn? So that is why she seems familiar, “and I would just like to apologise for any inconveniences we may cause by asking you to come with us.”

Chie rolls her eyes and begins to unwrap her jacket from around her hips, shrugging it on while she says, “c’mon, Yukiko! You’re beginning to make me look uncultured.”

“That wasn’t what I meant to do—” Yukiko flounders and then lets out a loud oof when Chie gently smacks her on her back. “Ow! Chie…”

“Sorry, sorry! But do you wanna come with me to Junes?”

“Of course.” Yukiko says, her voice dipping down softly, her expression changing so quickly that Yu blinks and almost immediately misses it. Though they don’t miss the way her smile goes from sincere to polite as she looks back at them and clasps her hands behind her, holding her school satchel as she says, “I think it would be good for you to join us.” something tells Yu that they can’t say no, especially not with how intensely they are being looked at.

Before they can leave the classroom someone else stumbles on – because of course someone else comes along and drags this out – and Yu has to keep from yelling when they see the person. More specifically, they have to keep from pointing out that this is the boy they see ram his dick head first into a telephone pole. They look away and awkwardly rub at their neck as he nervously approaches Chie.

Wait, is he going to confess – oh, no. It just seems he has come back to return a movie disk. “Chie-san,” the boy begins all nervous and anxious like, the movie case trembling in his grip, and Yu looks between both the brown-haired students, “um, I know that – well, okay, before you do anything, please, _please _wait until my next paycheck before you do anything to me. Please. I beg you. And I uh, I just. Want to immediately say. Iamsosorryforeverythingplease FORGIVE ME.”

What?

Yu peers over Chie’s shoulder and their eyes widen when they see how the CD has cracked in half. Chie sputters out in inarticulate rage, gives out a very clear yell of, “Yosuke I cannot BELIEVE YOU!” and then chases him down and kicks him right in the nuts again. Yu almost feels sorry for the kid. They duck their head out and trail after Chie and Yukiko, not wanting to involve themself with Yosuke right now when he is in clear pain, though… they really, really rather not involve themself with the girls either.

_“Making some new friends will probably help you.” _they remember their mom saying. _“And… you won’t have to see them anymore when you leave Inaba at the end of the year, so you won’t have to explain anything about yourself if you don’t want to. You never have to do anything you don’t want to. But I think it’s best you still try.”_

* * *

The girls (as in, Chie primarily) mostly grill them on what living in the city is like, which means the three of them often end up pausing in the school halls constantly just so that Yu can answer them. Or, rather, so that Yu can answer Chie – Yukiko maintains a polite distance from them the entire time, although she does apologise whenever Chie forces them to stop and explain something. Getting to the school gate is an entire _ordeal, _and they almost astral project when they remember they are being dragged away to Junes.

The uncomfortable feeling only gets worse when Yukiko gets hit on by some creepy kid from _another _school. Chie stands up for her, looking extremely miffed as she tries to chase the other student away. She is the one who makes a big deal about him not only being from another school but the fact that he doesn’t even _know _Yukiko, and Yu… is stuck in the middle while trying to figure out what to do. _‘Is this guy… a stalker?’ _Yu thinks, feeling almost detached.

“So d’ya wanna go out, or not?” the boy barks out and Yukiko is quick to reply with a firm, confused, “no! I’m not interested in romance right now.” and Yu takes a step forward, putting a further barrier between her and the stranger who eventually leaves in a big huff. Yukiko smiles gratefully at them and Chie just stomps her foot and lets out her own huffs and puffs over the nerve of the stranger.

Yosuke comes in on his bike just as they are about to leave, looking far better than back in class. “Turned another guy down, huh, Yukiko-san?” Yosuke asks airily, playfully, with a wink and a grin Yukiko’s way. Yu’s eyes roll up into their skull.

“I don’t think it’s turning down a guy as much as it was turning down a creep.” Yu says curtly and Yosuke shrugs, “and what do you mean turned down another guy? Is Yukiko-san popular among the boys in this school?” personally, they don’t really see why. And then, even if they can that really doesn’t justify boys just coming up to her to try and get her to go out with them. If Chie and they haven’t been here and Yukiko isn’t asked out at school, then who knows what will have happened to her? The thought makes their stomach curl.

Yosuke breaks through with his ever playful voice, sounding not as bothered as Yu feels, “well, it’s kind of like… a game? See which boy gets to capture Yukiko-san’s heart in the Amagi-challenge, and anyone who gets turned down and is _remembered _can’t get to ask her out again!” the boys in this school have made a _challenge _out of asking her out? Here too…? “She turned me down too; a year ago, actually.”

“I don’t remember that.” Yukiko interjects. Chie smacks her palm against her own forehead.

“You really don’t?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Theeeeeeen~… wanna go-”

“No.”

“Oh wow! Didn’t even let me finish my sentence, haha.” Yosuke doesn’t, thankfully, seem all that bothered by her interruption, as he just laughs and grins at her all the while. “Well, I gotta go now. You guys don’t hurt the city boy too much now, will you?”

Yu bristles a little. “I have a name –” yet Yosuke is gone before Yu can say anything more and Chie sticks her tongue out at his retreating back. Yukiko stares at him leave with a blank expression. Chie is the one who pushes them out towards the dirt road away from the students all staring at them and to the main intersection that leads towards the residential area and through to the other districts.

* * *

Walking on the road is just more questions from Chie and Yukiko, though thankfully they don’t have to stop and explain certain things to Chie all over again. It is just as they are about to leave the dirt road that Chie declares, “okay, Yu-kun! Tell me – what do you think? Do you think Yukiko is cute or not? Cute enough to date? So? So?”

Yu looks Yukiko up and down. Then shrugs. “I don’t care and it isn’t your business to know.” they admit bluntly, though not because they are incapable of feeling attraction to women, and leaves Chie at a loss for words. Yukiko burns a bright red, though Yu can’t tell if it is out of embarrassment or anger. Then again, it isn’t as if they want to rate Yukiko like she is some sort of piece of media that deserves critiques and ratings. 

“Chie!” Yukiko cries out, “not – not again, come on, Chie…”

“Look, I’m sorry, but we have a real life city boy here—” is being from the city really that special? “and you haven’t been asking him _anything. _Come on, isn’t there anything you’re dying to know?” Yukiko adamantly shakes her head. Chie rolls her eyes, then turns her attention back to Yu. “I just think she’s embarrassed because the only thing you would be interested in here is the Amagi inn,” she says and Yukiko’s eyes widen, “it’s pretty much the only reason why tourists come here –”

Yu tries not to frown as they say, “I’m not a tourist.”

“And the Amagi inn isn’t really a big deal!” Yukiko says, barging in almost harshly into the conversation. “Chie is just trying to flatter me and my family, really. It’s no real big deal, we just do our best to make sure everyone is happy, as most other services do.”

The conversation doesn’t end after that, no matter how unhappy Yukiko seems with the topic.

* * *

It is when they arrive just on the edge of the residential district that everything takes a heel-turn for the worst. There are police cars all around with gossiping husbands and wives, though more older women out of work than men, and all three of them look at each other. Chie is the one who steps forth, at the same time that a male police officer sprints past them all to puke his guts out. A female police officer walks in after, looking a bit tired as she stares off at where the male police officer is puking.

“Adachi-san… I wish you didn’t get sick like that – haven’t you been doing this for years?” she says with a long, drawn-out sigh; she is a taller than average woman, a few centimetres taller than Yu for sure, and her brown hair is extremely short, styled up in a pixie cut or so they think, “it would really help me out more if you could keep it together and stay on the scene, Adachi-san.” she stops when she catches sight of the three students, her expression warping from tired to friendly, if not a bit concerned. “You must be Yasogami high students, correct?” she asks once she takes in their uniforms.

Chie crosses her arms and toes at the ground beneath her, “y – yes! Um, can I ask what’s happened here, Miss…?” she trails off and the officer before her clears her throat.

“I’m officer Uchida Tamaki.” she reaches into her brown jacket and brings out her police ID, though Yukiko is quick to point out to her that she doesn’t seem to be from around here. Hearing that, Uchida laughs. “Yes, you’re completely correct. I was transferred here as temporary replacement due to the death of Dojima Ryoutarou—”

“My uncle?” Yu interjects without meaning to, the words slipping out without thought, but officer Uchida doesn’t seem that bothered from the interruption. Chie and Yukiko, however, tense up – surprised at the admission, clearly, and they look at Yu with worry. They know that their uncle is dead, has known for a while, as they are the one to comfort their mom through the grief of the loss of her brother, but not _how _he dies. They look back to Uchida who gazes back at them with some recognition and then she laughs, sheepishly.

“Oh, you’re his nephew? I’m a friend of Chisato-chan, but I never knew him, I’m sorry.” she puts her ID away, “yes, Dojima-san ended up dying in a hit and run incident months, almost a year ago. The case is still ongoing, but we have no word on the perpetrator yet. I can’t discuss the details, however. What I can tell you, though, is that you three should be careful now. There’s been a murder,” Chie gasps in surprise and Yukiko whispers ‘murder?’ under her breath, “and we don’t have the details just yet, but it’s safe to say that you should all be careful.”

The male police officer, the one from earlier, walks up to all of them after a while with a grimace on his face. “Eugh, you’d think… you’d think I’d get used to it by now.” he gripes and officer Uchida just nods absent-mindedly. He comes to an abrupt halt and stares at Yu for a bit, and their skin immediately crawls from the scrutiny. “… oh! You’re – you’re Chisato-chan’s nephew! She was talking my ear off about you, y’know? Nice to meet’cha kid, I’m Adachi Tohru. I knew your uncle, actually! We used to work together.”

Yu wants to deny that that admission and Adachi’s carefree disposition makes them relax, but that is the truth. They can’t take a moment of anxiety as excuse to be rude, however. “It’s nice to meet you, Adachi-san; I am Narukami Yu. Thank you for your hard work.” Yu says and they give a shallow bow. Adachi laughs. “And it was nice to meet you as well, Uchida-san. Thank you for your hard work.”

Uchida, who has been looking at something on her phone with a pinched expression, looks up at her name and hums absent-mindedly, “it isn’t a problem. Would you like me to give you kids a ride home?” she asks, “it’s probably safer now, but still not completely safe until we’ve checked the premises and made sure that nothing will happen. It’s best you have escorts with you, for now.”

“I can take Yu-kun home,” Adachi says and he settles both his hands on his bony hips, a doofy smile on his face as he looks over at Yu, and they try not to flush too much underneath his unfamiliar, kind gaze, “hah! You’re a shy kid, huh? Wouldn’t expect that from someone related to Dojima-san. The police car’s over there,” he points over to where he means, “and unless Uchida-san needs me to drive her anywhere…”

She shakes her head. “I can ask one of the other officers if they could give me a ride back to the department,” she says with a smile, “you can take Yu-san home, I don’t mind, and – do you two need to be driven back?”

“We’ll be fine walking,” Yukiko says, “we’re on the opposite side of where the murder took, so…”

“And she has me!” Chie says with faltering confidence. Uchida nonetheless assigns one of the officers to escort the two girls back to their home. She waves goodbye at Yu before she goes back to the scene of the crime.

They are left alone with Adachi, who tilts his head to the side and watches Uchida’s retreating back before he turns to smile widely at Yu. They try not to flush even further. He snickers. The seats of the police car are more comfortable than they expect it to be and Adachi is a careful driver, thankfully knowing where to go without Yu having to tell them. They hug their bag to their chest while they sit in the front seat and take in the smell of pines thanks to the little air freshener.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, kid,” Adachi says after a while and Yu looks up towards him, “but it must be rough coming to a new town – especially from the big city. Y’know, I was sent here from the big city, Uchida-san too. Though, she’s going to go back once we have someone to officially take over Dojima-san’s place.”

“Where is Uchida-san from?” they ask.

“Sumaru city. You heard of it before?” they shake their head. Thankfully, Adachi seems to notice it from the corner of his eyes. “It’s a good city, but way farther away from here. I’m actually amazed they transferred her out, especially when she seems to be a good cop. Wonder if she heard about what happened and demanded to be sent here because of Chisato-chan?”

Yu shifts a little in their seat. In a few minutes, they will be back at the Dojima residence. They won’t be able to talk long. “Uchida-san must be a good person, then.” they say just as Adachi rolls up to a stop and Yu is stepping out of the police car. “Thank you for the drive, Adachi-san.” they pause briefly, just before they close the door, then, “would you like to come in and have some tea? Some water?”

“Aw, you’re a good, polite kid. If you were a girl, boys would be fawning all over you.” Yu gives out a bark of surprised laughter, and Adachi laughs with them, probably not realising the true reason behind Yu’s laugh. “Kinda like Amagi-chan. She’s popular in the news, must be the same for school.”

They nod, though they don’t really know how the topic comes to this. “She is popular,” they say, “but the tea –”

“Sorry kid, I gotta go back to work.” Adachi leans over his wheel, crosses his arms atop it, and smiles, “maybe another time. I’ll come and visit you and Chisato-chan, and grab some cake for cute lil’ Nanako-chan later. But I gotta go back to work, or else Uchida-san will have to lecture me because the department says so. You be safe now, Yu-kun.”

They watch him drive off, trying to ignore the skittering bugs underneath their skin. The first day back to school and a murder has taken place… they think back to the Velvet Room, to Naoya’s and Igor’s warnings. Is this what they mean? They look towards the still bright sky, trying to see anything through today’s dense fog. Maybe they will visit the Velvet Room tonight in their dreams?

Chisato is going to be home soon, alongside Nanako probably. They should go in and prepare dinner for the three of them.

* * *

When they open their eyes in this dream this time, it is not to the sight of the Velvet Room – no. It is to a dense world full of fog, to the point that they cannot see anything but where their feet are. They rise to a slow stand and then immediately begin to sputter and cough, their hands on their throat as they try to breathe - the fog is suffocating, unbearable, and Yu covers their nose with their palm once their coughing fit dies down. They begin to take small steps forward, dragging their weary body through the fog and the uncertainty, and they keep their eyes focused ahead.

They walk, and walk, and walk – until they bump into a door as blue as the walls of the Velvet Room. They reach for the door handle, only to then realise that the door is locked. They look up at the door and then gasp and stumble backwards when they see a much larger door behind the blue one, one that pierces through the low visibility of the fog with its towering, grey height. They step around the blue door and press their palm up against the larger door’s surface. It surprisingly flies open when they apply the slightest of pressure to it and they almost stumble through and fall onto their face from the unexpected entry.

“Are you the one who is supposed to stop me?” an unidentifiable, loud voice asks; the tone is almost mocking, jeering, yet mixed in with a curiosity that makes the voice sound _sincere_. Yu stares up ahead of them, catching sight of a silhouette hidden behind thick fog. “You cannot even see the path before you. How are you going to stop me?” they try to take a step forward, only for their foot to almost slide off and for them to fall down to what seems to be a bottomless pit. Yet they do not fall and they manage to grab onto something that they cannot see to regain their balance.

“If someone like you, who cannot see the path laid down before them, is meant to stop me – then what am I to be scared of?” the voice continues on, “what do you hope to do, now?” their foot bumps against a sword nearby and, unthinkingly, they grab onto it and lift it up with both hands and swing it ahead of them. They swear they seem to slice through something. “Ah, so the path isn’t entirely cut off from you. That won’t change anything.” the fog around them seems to grow worse, and worse, and Yu has to squint to even try to see anything. The silhouette rapidly fades from their sight.

They swing once more, only for them to connect with nothing but fog. Everything becomes taken up in a mist of grey, unending fog, a haze that Yu will not be able to break through. They close their eyes and bring an arm up to shield their face. “No matter what it takes, I will win. I will reach my goal.”

And with that final statement, the world around them goes black and Yu falls into a fitful sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

Yu wakes up early the next day – early enough that they can loiter around doing nothing for roughly twenty minutes before they have to head off to school. They turn the old television in their room on and are quick to turn the volume extremely low as they switch over to the news channel. They try to see if they can catch onto any early news that day and they strain to listen in on what is playing on the old, tiny TV; it seems to be the same report of the murder yesterday, about some sort of news reporter who is under fire for being in a relationship with some sort of politician married to an Enka singer. Their faces all line up on the side – a woman with an intricate bun that houses a large butterfly pin that matches her red yukata, a man who looks like he sweats too much and he has a receding hairline, and a woman with short pixie hair and an unassuming face.

All of them look like nothing special, except for maybe the Enka singer. They tilt their head to the side, watching [and barely hearing] the news with a small amount of interest.

They already know about all of this from yesterday – a young witness is found, with her features messily blurred and her voice distorted to hide her identity. They mostly remember the reporter being too pushy and eager, kind of unprofessional, and the girl looking extremely uncomfortable through it all. They turn the TV off and head downstairs to make breakfast for everyone and find themselves surprised when Chisato is already there, and cooking too. “Auntie,” Yu calls out softly and she turns to look at them with brief shock that is quick to be replaced with a gentle smile, “good morning.”

“Good morning, Yu-chan,” she says, “did you sleep well?” they nod their head and she smiles brightly at them, as bright as the ever rising sun, and she is quick to put a plate of toast and eggs before them when they sit down at the modest dining table. “Nana-chan should wake up soon enough – can you walk her to school today too, Yu-kun?”

They nod and then, after giving thanks for the breakfast, says, “of course I can. I can walk her to school for the rest of the year if you’d like, auntie.”

The rest of the morning is spent with Chisato waking Nanako up, giving her breakfast, and then waving goodbye at them both as they head off to school before she gets ready for her own work. The walk there is as quiet as yesterday, though Nanako and them have to split off when Yusuke barrels in on his bike again and ends up crashing into a trash bin. Nanako promises to wait up for them up ahead, so Yu wastes no time in yanking Yosuke out of the rubbish bin and out into the world.

“Oh man, thanks for saving my hide,” Yosuke says, stares, then does a double take when he remembers who they are, “oh, you’re the city boy! New kid! I didn’t introduce myself properly. I’m Hanamura Yosuke, nice ta meet’cha!”

“Narukami Yu.”

Yosuke looks ready to say something else but he pauses, checks his watch, and lets out a comically loud yell. It is that yell that causes them to end up on the back of Yosuke’s bike, with them awkwardly holding onto Nanako when they catch up to her, so that neither of them are late. It is only after they send Nanako off to her school that they tell Yosuke, rather awkwardly, that his watch is ten minutes late.

The amount of apologies he gives them can probably end world hunger if anyone is to convert it into actual food. The only reason why Yosuke stops with his endless ‘sorries’ is because class starts with Mr. Morooka kicking the door open and screaming at everyone to sit down.

* * *

Lunch time is when Yukiko, Chie, and Yosuke all aggregate around them, much to their chagrin. “Hey, Yu-kun, didn’t you and the girls go to Junes yesterday?” Yosuke asks while Chie and Yukiko are just about to approach the two of them, both girls looking immediately apologetic and flustered when they hear his question. “I was waiting for you guys to come by yesterday, but I didn’t see any of you there.”

“Do you remember the murder that got reported yesterday?” Yukiko asks, “Yamano Mayumi, the reporter. Kind of ironic, huh? A reporter’s death getting reported.”

“It’s kinda funny in like, a dark, morbid way?” Chie says chirpily, “I mean, it’s not really – it’s not funny, murder isn’t funny, I know, but like… never mind. Forget what I’m saying.”

Yukiko continues on, as if Chie hasn’t said anything to interrupt her, “we ended up taking the long way back to the lower residential area so we could talk to Yu-kun more, but we ended up stumbling on an ongoing crime scene investigation. We couldn’t see the body though, I think it was already moved by the time we got there.”

Yosuke whistles, surprise clearly written on his face, “oh, whoa. Whoooa, whoa whoa. You guys stumbled back into the murder scene?”

“There wasn’t a body there by the time we got there.” Yukiko says while she pokes at her food.

“Yeah, but like. A murder scene, dude!”

“He’s kinda right…” Chie says while scratching her chin. “A murder in Inaba… there’s no way that’s real. It can’t be real. Didn’t that witness girl also look familiar? I thought I saw her before.”

Yosuke beams. “She was our senpai last year, remember? She graduated and she’s about to start taking the uni here, though there’s some stuff going on at the uni right now that’s delaying her getting in. Pretty much all of the uni students are talking about it and I think the professors and all are super embarrassed about it.”

“Oh, right! The Kyoujou University… kind of a depressing name for a university even if they try to cover it up with katakana, don’t you think so, Yukiko-chan?”

Yukiko looks around, shrugs, and then stares down at her feet as she shuffles around. Only a small distance away, from a group a metre apart from them, Yu hears a few people gossiping amongst themselves about the murder before someone finally approaches Yukiko. She turns around at the stammer of her name, her expression uncertain even as she attempts to smile politely, and Yu settles their chin on their palm.

“Hey, Yukiko-san… is it true that Yamano Mayumi was staying at your family’s inn?” the boy asks, attempting to be quiet, yet the entire classroom falls into a hush in spite of his attempts. Chie immediately freezes up in surprise and Yukiko just looks tired. Yosuke looks from Chie to Yukiko, then to Yu, and then all around the classroom, before he decides to just awkwardly look away.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t divulge that sort of information,” Yukiko says, mechanically, “I cannot say who is or is not staying at the inn. I would get in trouble if I were to let you know.” she gives a shallow bow and then straightens up when the boy offers stuttered apologies. “N – no, it’s okay, it’s just… I’m sorry, I wish I could tell you.” she tucks one stray lock of hair behind her ear, though her gaze is staring beside the boy’s head instead of at him.

The boy fidgets. “I’m sorry for asking, Yukiko-san, I knew you couldn’t but…” he shrugs, “it’s just that, I saw her on the Midnight Channel and I thought for sure she was my soulmate – then she died and… I don’t know! I’m sorry! Take care!”

He leaves almost immediately after that and, within a few seconds, everyone goes back to chattering among their friends during lunch break. Yu twiddles their thumbs, unsure of what to do while Yukiko sighs and Chie is about to burst with a rant about another boy approaching the former. Yosuke, thankfully, breaks through with a stumbled interjection, “the Mi – Midnight Channel, huh? Either one of you guys know anything about it? I keep hearing ‘bout it but I never checked it out.”

Chie takes this as her opportunity to pounce, “oh, dude! They say if you look at a turned off TV at exactly midnight while it’s raining, you’ll get to see your soulmate on there! Isn’t that cool?”

“Oh,” Yu says, “I’ve heard about this.”

“You have?” Chie gasps, delighted, “it’s cool, right? It’s super cool! I’ve never tried it out myself, but people keep talking about how they see their soulmates in the TV, and I am super curious about it. I didn’t realise Yamano Mayumi was being seen on the Midnight Channel though… that’s kinda creepy.”

Yukiko shifts. “That is disturbing if you’re right.”

“How can you be sure she was appearing on the Midnight Channel, Chie-chan? C’mon, be reasonable.” Yosuke shakes his head and rolls his eyes, arms crossing in front of his chest and he looks completely flabbergasted with Chie. Yu blinks.

“I don’t think she’s being unreasonable,” Yu says, “just because she believes in this doesn’t make her less reasonable than everyone else who does. I mean, if people really did see Yamano Mayumi on TV, doesn’t that make them seem weird and crazy?” Chie looks at them gratefully and Yu avoids her gaze. Yosuke just stares through them. “I don’t really believe it either, but I think Chie-san talking about a rumour she heard doesn’t make her unreasonable.”

Chie claps her hands together. “Thank _you! _If only Yosuke-kun was like you.”

“Hey! Anyway, I’m not the one spouting off about the Midnight Channel despite never having watched it!”

“You – fine! Let’s both watch it! Tonight! There’s gonna be a _downpour _and tonight’s the best night to check it out!”

“No way, sod off!”

Yukiko breaks through and stops the argument near immediately, her voice formal and words factual as she says, “lunch break is going to be ending soon. Don’t you think we should eat before it ends?”

* * *

They end up going to Junes in the end – Yosuke promises to treat them to a meal, which immediately has Chie backpacking off of his offer while Yukiko excuses herself to go work at her family’s inn. The look on her face is miserable when Chie looks away and starts talking animatedly to Yosuke about meat or something, telling him exactly what she wants to eat when they get to Junes, and Yu wants to ask why Yukiko looks so upset. She turns away before Yu can get their chance, though they doubt she will even talk to them, and Chie drags them along with Yosuke to Junes.

After checking up with Chisato and Nanako and letting them know where they are going, Yu wishes that they can at the very least just say ‘no’ and go back home, lay in bed, and ignore their homework until late at night.

Junes, in their opinion, isn’t all that interesting. It is just a store – a huge store with basically everything but video games, apparently, but a store nonetheless. Yosuke introduces everything with a fake flourish and constant eye rolls, before he then sits the two of them down and goes to buy them ramen instead of steak like Chie is expecting.

They have an argument right next to them and Yu just tries to quietly eat their food, noting that the taste is _fine _but nothing to write home about. It just makes them want to go back home and start cooking for them and their family. They hope that mom and dad are doing okay in Germany and considers e-mailing them at some point just to check up on them. They swallow the lump down in their throat with noodles and more.

“Oh, Saki-senpai!” Yosuke’s enthusiastic voice cuts through the haze in their mind and both Chie and them look up to see him calling over a girl around their age. Yu blinks owlishly. _‘Aren’t we third years?’ _Yu thinks to themself. “Over here!” the girl looks up, her hair long and curly and sandy blonde, and she closes her eyes for a few moments, showing off the shadows of fatigue dusting her eyelids. Opening them again, she smiles and scuffles over to them.

Yosuke hesitates when she comes over, his hands up in the air and then flailing, and the girl – Saki – laughs. “It’s nice to see you too, Yosuke-kun.” she says gently and reaches up to ruffle his hair, much to his embarrassment. “You guys must be Yosuke-kun’s friends. I’m Konishi Saki, it’s nice to meet you. I should be a first-year university student… but we might not be starting university until next month due to some problems going on.” something dark falls over her face, making her look even more tired than she already does, “nothing in Inaba can go right, can it?”

Yu swallows. Chie just smiles widely at her. “It’s good to see you again, senpai. I was your kouhai for last year, too.” Chie says, sounding surprisingly polite for once, “um, you helped me a lot with maths and history. Thank you.”

It takes Saki some time to register Chie’s face and remember her, in which the smile comes back on her expression. Something about it tells Yu that she rather prefers to be somewhere far away than to be here instead. “I hope you do well this year too. You only have yourself to rely on, now.” Saki says absently, as if she isn’t really here.

Yosuke decides to catch her attention then, leading her away from the table so that they can catch up and talk, and Yu looks over to Chie. “Did they date in the past?” Yu asks while they stir the left-behind broth with their wooden chopsticks. “They seem really close.”

Chie laughs at that, as if it is the biggest joke that Yu says to her right now. Dread weighs on their bones. She shakes her head while a wide smile takes over. “No, no. They didn’t date. He liked her a lot and he did confess, but she rejected him. I don’t think she was interested in romance at the time because she seemed super stressed with school and the college entry exam, and she mostly focused on her studies.” Chie says playfully, “but Yosuke never really got over her~ I think, if anything, he actually fell more in love with her, which, hah! Poor Saki-senpai.”

Saki bids goodbye to them some time later, her break having ended and Yosuke comes back to the table looking elated for half a second before his brows pinch together in worry. “She seems shaken up lately,” Yosuke says, “and I’m gonna go check up with my dad to see what’s going on because something’s telling me she’s been working herself too hard. I think she managed to convince my dad into giving her more hours to work, and maybe I can convince her later to take it easy.”

Yu blinks. Unthinkingly and without filters, they ask, “did you ask Yukiko-san out last year even though you were interested in Saki-san?”

Both Yosuke and Chie stiffen up and fall completely silent. Yosuke stares at them with utter shock and then whirls around to glare at Chie, pointing at her accusatorily and his face burns a cherry red. “Why did you tell him!” he hisses out, “why did you tell him I confessed to Saki-senpai!”

Chie stands up and knocks the chair back, her hands on the table as she defensively says, “I didn’t do anything wrong! He asked and I answered, okay? You were probably going to tell him yourself, sooner or later anyway! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Before Yosuke can say anything more, they make sure to interject and try to redirect the blame onto themself. “It was invasive of me to ask.” Yu says. Yosuke looks between them and her, huffs, and then rubs at his own face. “That was very insensitive of me, I’m sorry.”

They watch him take a few deep breaths – in and out, slow inhales and exhales, until the flush from his face is gone and he just looks flustered. “No, no, it’s – it’s okay.” Yosuke says. “Really, it is. But um, I don’t know. I don’t think now is the time to talk about something like that, especially when Saki-senpai seems really worried.”

Yu shifts. They want to say something – about him appearing insincere of his fondness for Saki if he is okay with playfully asking Yukiko out, no matter how genuinely he may like her – but they keep it to themself and just nod numbly. “And, I mean, she was the one who appeared on the news yesterday as the witness,” Yosuke says, sympathetically, “I can’t believe this is how I run into her again… with her scared from seeing a murder…” Yu looks at him blankly, and Yosuke does his best to explain, “I wasn’t able to see her in some months because she went to another city for some sort of co-op thing to help her secure her place in uni, and we mostly texted whenever Saki-senpai was free. I didn’t… want this to be how we reunite.”

“I think she’s going to be okay,” Chie says softly after she settles back down into her seat, “she just needs some time. She’ll be better in no time.”

They don’t want to be here, Yu thinks after Chie and Yosuke fall into another conversation about things they don’t know anything about. They press their thumbs and indexes together and tune them out, only giving noncommittal hums and grunts as answers when addressed, and they feel all of their muscles tense up.

* * *

“Let’s all make sure to watch the Midnight Channel, okay?” is what Chie says before she leaves and Yosuke calls out to her only for her to pointedly ignore him. He rolls his eyes.

He turns to face Yu and they look up at him curiously. “I know she didn’t ask you for your number,” Yosuke says and a smile comes onto his face, as if he has already gotten over their question earlier, “so, wanna exchange contact info? Just in case you really do go through with this farce of a whole, Midnight Channel thing. Heh. Chie-chan’s so dumb.”

“Ah.” Yu says. “I’m sorry for earlier.”

Yosuke shrugs. “Eh, don’t be. I’ve thought about what you’ve said a lot even before you came here, but I could never find like a concrete answer for myself.” _‘is it because no one talked to you about it?’ _“I’m just mostly embarrassed Chie-chan just ratted me out like that.”

“You two seem close.”

“Childhood friends.” he chirps out. "I used to live in Inaba as a kid before I moved out to the city. Chie recognised me _immediately _when I came back."

Yu tries not to physically wilt in front of him. “Oh.” is what they say and don’t push any further.

They part after that, waving goodbye at each other before Yosuke is bicycling off back home and Yu is calling Chisato up to ask her to pick them up. She tells them to wait by the elevators and they do, their bag by their side and their gaze elsewhere.

Childhood friends… they miss having childhood friends.

* * *

They do their homework immediately upon getting home. Nanako comes upstairs to give them dinner and she smiles shyly when Yu thanks her. They hesitate for a bit before ruffling her hair and Nanako tenses up before she giggles. Okay, good, she is warming up to them. They slump with relief once she is out of their room and they sit on their makeshift sofa to eat the food Chisato prepares for them. It tastes good – like home, like family and love, and Yu rubs at their eyes when they think about their own parents’ cooking.

It is after dinner that they realise it is getting rather late but they find themself unable to go to sleep, even after wishing Nanako and Chisato goodnight. They lay in bed and stare, stare, and stare at the wall in darkness. The pitter-patter of the rain reminds them of the Midnight Channel and they force themself to sit up and stare at the clock on the wall. The hands move ever slowly – only a minute away from midnight. They begin to count the sounds out in their head.

The clock strikes twelve. They stand up and head over to the TV, their arms crossing in front of them, and they stare at the black screen.

When a few minutes pass and nothing happens, Yu is about to call it quits only for the TV’s screen to emit an eye-searing bright light. They gasp and stare at the screen, eyes wide in shock as static takes over for a scant few seconds. They creep closer to the television… and an image begins to form – a girl… their mouth falls open. _‘It’s Konishi Saki!’ _they think deliriously. _‘but why? I only just met her.’_

“H – hello?” she cries out, “is anyone here? What’s going on? How did I get here! Anyone, someone, help me, please!” her form is extremely crisp and clear, more than they expect from a crappy television like this, and Yu places their hands on the screen instinctively out of surprise.

They nearly yell when one of their arms fall right through and something clasps at their wrist, dragging them further into the television, and Yu finds themself in the same, foggy and yellow environment that Saki is in. They flail and fumble, their body getting stuck on something, and they struggle, push back, and try to yank their arm out of the television. A creature – some… some sort of two-horse-fusion monstrosity – is grasping at their wrist with a single human arm that extends out from its torso.

“Let go!” they scream, “let me go! Let me go!” they continue to struggle, kicking their legs and trying to yank themself out, and the grip on their wrist loosens until finally…

The hand around their wrist slips off and they go flying out of the television, landing squarely on their ass, and the television abruptly turns off. They gasp and wheeze, both hands settling on their chest as they try to calm their nerves, and they hear the thumps of two sets of feet running up to their door.

“Yu! Are you okay? I heard noises!” Chisato cries out, her voice clearly distressed, and Yu’s heart constricts.

Quickly gathering and regaining their composure, they yell, “I just – I fell off my bed, that’s all. I’m sorry for worrying you, auntie! I’m okay!”

When they hear both Nanako and Chisato leave and hopefully go back to bed, Yu considers texting or calling Yosuke to let him know what transpires in their bedroom. However, exhaustion wins out and they finally crawl back to their bed and let themself drift back to sleep. Maybe they will run into Naoya in their dreams? They hope so.

They really do.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit:** Included an edit mentioning a delivery truck.

The first thing they do the next time they see Chie, Yosuke, and Yukiko is to tell them what happens to them that night. Expectedly, none of them believe them as they look at each other and then back at them. Yu shrugs. Chie is the one who laughs, the sound edging ever closer to nervousness than actual mirth, “c’mon, Yu-kun, be real. There is no way you fell into the TV.” Chie says with a chirp, and Yu isn’t really all that taken aback that she laughs at them and their story. If anything, Yu is sure that if Chie believes them outright and at face value that they will slap themself on instinct just to make sure this isn’t an unwanted nightmare.

“I watched the Midnight Channel last night too,” Yu says softly and that is when Chie and Yosuke immediately take on the expression of someone sucking on a very sour lemon, “I saw someone there. But I don’t think she was my soulmate.” they really do doubt that tidbit; after all, she isn’t anyone deeply related to Yu. Yosuke and Chie look at each other once more, their expression souring and worsening even further, and that is when Yu feels a certain exhaustion weigh down their bones. Warily, they ask, “did you two watch the Midnight Channel?”

Chie breaks eye contact and crosses her arms, keeping her gaze fixed solely at her feet. Yosuke scratches the back of his head and then clears his throat. “I… um, I didn’t watch the Midnight Channel. At all.” his voice is strained and forced and he doesn’t look Yu in the eyes. If anything, he looks slightly to the left of Yu’s face. Chie toes at the floor and kicks at Yu’s table leg and they are hit with the momentary desire to ask her not to do that.

“I wasn’t able to watch the Midnight Channel, mostly because I didn’t even know we were doing that.” Yukiko says, unnecessarily. “Even if I wanted to, I still couldn’t because I had to help out at the inn.” Yu nods at that and then fixes their gaze back on Chie, who still refuses to look up at them or at anyone else. Yu sits up and has to forcefully remind themself not to cross their legs. Yukiko looks over to Chie as well and she tilts her head to the side, her expression pinching as if she wants to say something.

Eventually, Chie lets out a long, drawn-out sigh and says, “look, I didn’t watch it—”

“But you were the one who was the most gun ho about it!” Yosuke exclaims to the point of near yelling as he points an accusatory finger at Chie, “why’d you pressure us into watching it if you weren’t even going to!?”

“Look, I just… it’s not that important! Besides, Yu-kun was probably really tired and sleepy when he watched the Midnight Channel. Like, really? Falling into the TV? May he just had a super realistic dream that he thought was actually, you know, reality?” she suggests instead, deflecting all the attention away from herself, and Yu feels a bone-heavy exhaustion drag them down. They try not to pinch their nose in agitation. “Though, that part about you not being able to get into the TV because it was too small was very accurate…”

Yukiko is the one who speaks up, “it probably means that Yu-kun is a very accurate and smart person to be able to pick up on a detail like that in his dreams.” Yu doesn’t really know enough about dreams and dream interpretation to really doubt or agree with that, so they keep quiet. “You must have been at the top of your classes in your previous school, Yu-kun.” Yukiko says cheerily and Yu grabs at their pencil and taps it on their table.

“Maybe you can help me study, then… and, wait. Speaking of helping and TV – Yosuke!” Chie cries out, her voice suddenly comically grave, and Yosuke looks at her with an expression equally as serious, “I need. Your assistance. In Junes.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Yosuke says seriously, like a soldier going out to war, and Yu looks between them uncertainly, “Whatever do you require from… _the son of Junes?_”

Chie cracks a smile, “my family’s been thinking of getting a new TV, but they were hoping to look for something cheap. You guys have good prices at Junes, don’t you?” she says in a normal tone of voice and Yosuke’s expression melts away for a second too.

He looks up and around thoughtfully while he taps his foot and bobs his shoulders to a song only he can hear. Then he perks up and nods his head, “I can probably show you around our electronics department – it opened up recently and I don’t actually know what your price range is. ‘Cheap’ isn’t really an indicator on anything.”

“Well, we can go there and check it out, right?” then, with a quirk of her lip and a glance Yu’s way, she says, “maybe we can even bring Yu-kun with us so he can see which one is or isn’t good enough to crawl through, like back home. Maybe he’ll prove us wrong!” Yosuke snickers. Yukiko looks between all of them and then looks down dejectedly when Chie focuses her gaze on, toeing at the floor all while she refuses to look up. “You can’t come, can you, Yukiko?”

Silence.

“It’s okay,” Chie says, though her face contorts and twists in a manner that is comically weird, “I’ll just make sure to text you all the deets later. Don’t you worry about it!”

The school bell rings, indicating that lunch time is over, and everyone scrambles back to their respective seats.

* * *

Junes is the exact same as it has been last time, which is to say it is a corporate attempt at being homey while flashing off discounts and free samples to try and tempt people into buying more than they need to. Yu doesn’t like it very much, but they don’t say anything to Yosuke or Chie as they drag them along to the electronics department; Yukiko is unable to come along due to work back at the inn. It is on a different floor from the cafeteria, which makes sense considering how huge Junes is, and Yu just lags behind the two as they talk animatedly with one another over… something.

Yu stops paying attention after Chie mentions a super obscure martial arts movie, or something, and Yosuke responds in turn with extreme eagerness. They hold their bag limply in one hand, heavy with textbooks yet not enough to scratch and hurt their palm, and they wander away from Chie and Yosuke when the former begins to berate the latter for showing her televisions that are ‘too expensive.’ Yosuke retorts that it isn’t like he knows her price range, anyway.

They don’t stray too far, though. The electronics department, despite boasting a sizable amount of technology, is surprisingly empty in contrast to every other floor that they see in passing while riding the elevator. They suppose it has to do with the prices as Yu glances at one price tag and takes in the exorbitant amount of zeroes on the tag. _‘No one is going to be buying this any time soon,’ _Yu thinks to themself after they let go of the tag.

A metre to their right, Yosuke and Chie chatter on to each other; he points out TVs that she may find interest in, moving aside one hanging advertisement for the Enka singer so that he may better show her the television, and Yu looks back at the screen in front of them. Last night is no dream, they know it to be true. It is absolutely _not _a dream. They definitely remember falling into the TV last night – or almost falling at the very least. They stare at the screen, squint, and regards it deeply. They glance over to Yosuke and Chie, just one more time for confirmation. Then they lean in close and press their hand against the screen.

Ripples flow out from underneath their palm, like waves in a pond, and Yu’s eyes widen to the size of dinner plates and bug out slightly. They press down harder and a bizarre sound almost drags out of their throat that thankfully stifles itself in the form of a cough when their hand actually presses through the screen.

_‘I am a fucking genius,’ _is what they think, _‘I really did get nearly eaten by my TV!_

_‘Now what?’_

They stare at the screen for a bit longer, their hand completely submerged into the dark, black screen, and Yu tilts their head. They push their hand in a bit further, sinking in all the way to their elbow, and they marvel at the fact that they can feel cool air on their fingers. From their right, they hear Yosuke’s voice as he says, “hey, Chie-chan, let’s see what Yu-kun has to… say… about this… Tee… vee…”

When he looks to his left, his eyes lock with Yosuke’s who stares back at him uncomprehendingly. Yosuke’s mouth falls open, his eyebrows pinch together, and he looks like a blowfish. His expression continues to contort in barely held-back horror and surprise, a repeated “guah, guah, guah, wuaguah” leaves his lips as he stupidly points over at Yu and Chie stares at him with confusion clearly written on her face. Slowly, like rusty clockwork, Chie turns her head to stare at whatever it is that has stolen Yosuke’s voice from him.

Her jaw drops. She turns around and points a trembling, accusatory finger at them, eyes even wider than Yu’s and her mouth wide, wide open as it flaps open and shut repeatedly, trying to find the words to say what she wants to say. They both just point and stare at them and Yu glances back at their arm in the TV. They put their other hand on the screen. “Wahguah!??!?” Chie garbles out, sounding almost like some sort of aquatic bird if Yu is to hazard a guess. “Ouuuohhhuhh! What are you doing!” Chie manages out, her voice sounding deeper and more confused than before, “your arm! What are you doing with your arm! Arm!”

It is then that Yosuke’s brain seems to catch up with him as his hands fly up into his hair, bundling the poor strands in tight fists, “oh my god, his arm!” he parrots. “His arm! His arm is in the TV!” Yu pushes their free hand in and then both arms are in the TV, all the way to the elbow, and they end up crawling onto the display case. Yosuke chokes. “No stop, dude! What the fuck! Do you have no self-preservation!?”

As though to prove a point, Yu crawls in. Yosuke nearly shrieks, though Chie slaps a hand on his mouth to silence his distress. “His head is in the TV!” Yosuke says hysterically when Chie drops her hand, his voice going extremely high-pitched, “oh my god, his head – Oh! Oh God! Chie! We’re at Junes!”

“I know we’re at Junes –”

“No, Chie! We’re at Junes!”

It takes a second. Yu can almost imagine the cogwheels clicking and turning in Chie’s head, and then they hear her garbled voice of horror. “Oh no no no no no no no no!” they hear footfalls rushing up to them, which probably means that Yusuke and Chie are standing near them. “Yu! Get out of there! What are you _doing!_”

“I think a see a TV set.” is what Yu says after, “you know, when they’re like going to record scenes in movies or TV shows? Mostly shows. I think. I don’t know what those are called.”

“Oh,” it is Yosuke’s voice that speaks, light and airy and absent-minded, “you’re probably talking about filming locations in studi – wait. No! Fuck! Dude this isn’t the time for that! You’re in the TV! What do you mean you see a filming location in the TV?! THERE’S A WORLD IN THE TV!?” his voice is increasing in volume again only for him to tone down considerably after they hear Chie hitting him. “Okay. Okay, Yu-kun. Get out of the TV.”

They crawl in even further.

“THAT IS NOT GETTING OUT OF THE TV! Oh, shit, dude, I gotta pee. I gotta pee!”

Chie lets out an exasperated noise. “NOW?! You have to pee n – just go and hurry up! I’ll – I’ll try and yank Yu-kun out!” she says that and Yu hears Yosuke running off, only to hear more frantic noises of him running back and squawking. “Why are you still here!? I thought you were going to the bathroom!”

“There’s people coming this way!”

Unknown to Yu, who is still halfway inside of the TV, Chie and Yosuke immediately break out into a panic. Unthinkingly, Yosuke runs around the unrealistic scene, as does Chie, with his hands on his crotch while hers is in her hair and yanking at strands. Their panic is clear and obvious, though there is no one close enough yet to be able to really discern what is going on. It is in their panic that Chie slams into Yosuke and they topple over onto Yu.

In the end, all three of them fall directly through the TV and into another world.

Yu is the first one to fall and they land face first on the floor, landing with a heavy _thunk _that is not even enough to convey the immense pain they feel. They hear Yosuke and Chie screaming above them and, with lightning reflexes they have no clue they have, they manage to bolt up into standing and immediately dart away from where they land. They stumble over their own feet and grasp at their knees, doubling over to try and regain their composure.

They look up.

Fog, worse than back at Inaba, greets them, and Yu squints. “What?” they ask, though neither Chie and Yosuke seem to be in any condition to acknowledge them. They shake their head and rub at their eyes, squinting once more when their hands are back down onto their knees, and they realise one other thing: though clear from up above when they are halfway through the TV, this does seem to be a filming location that is almost entirely yellow. Black, nonsensical swirls form beneath their feet and lead up to a stage with drums, a microphone stand, a guitar, and a base set aside for later use.

TVs surround the top of the set, hanging from the support beams, and they all display silent static. They are the only things that stand really clear amidst all the fog. Yu straightens their back up and come to a proper stand, wiping off invisible and imaginary dust from their school uniform.

“Wh… where are we?” Chie groans out when she seems to finally regain herself and she shuffles off of Yosuke, who sits in a daze next to her while she comes to a swaying, unsteady stand. “I – we’re in the TV, aren’t we?” she asks, voice soft and delicate for once and a sharp pang hits Yu in the chest before they force it to fade. They shrug when Chie looks at them, though they suppose no answer is needed, really. Yosuke trails after them when Chie and Yu both step forward, trying to get their bearings in this empty, odd world inside of the TV.

A heavy pressure settles on all of their shoulders and backs, dragging all three of them down, and they gasp loudly. “We have to find a way outta here.” Yosuke says in a soft, hushed tone of voice.

“But where is here!?” Chie cries out, “and how are you going to find a way outta here!?” irritation paints Yosuke’s face and he looks about ready to say he may regret later and that Chie and Yu will definitely not want to hear.

Yu pipes up, saying, “if we don’t try, we’ll be stuck here forever and we’ll die here. Do you really want to do that?” that shuts Chie up, though Yosuke still looks agitated. He bites his lower lip and looks away, arms crossing in front of him, and Chie turns her gaze away from Yosuke as well. Yu really does not have time for this.

The impromptu leader of the trio is, regrettably, Yu. Though they can’t shake the feeling that they have been here before, Yu has to admit that they are just moving on gut instinct at this point. The path they choose is one that is marginally less foggy than all the other paths, where they are so enshrouded in the mist that Yu cannot tell if there is a floor or not beyond what little they can see. Yosuke and Chie titter on nervously behind them, something along the lines of “this is so creepy dude, what the hell” and “oh man I just wanna go home and pretend this never happened, oh man, oh man!”

It makes it a bit hard to concentrate, but Yu doesn’t think they have any sort of rights to make any comment about it. They are the odd one out here, considering that Yu’s response to this place so far has been _‘neat’_ and _‘why is this place so familiar?_’ Over time, their surroundings change to some sort of walkway and –

“Doesn’t this look similar to an apartment complex’s hallway?” Yosuke asks. Yu grunts an affirmative and he jolts at the sound. They don’t bother acknowledging his surprise.

“Oh,” Chie says, “I’ve never really lived in an apartment – I’ve lived at my house in Inaba all my life.” Yu tries not to pause at that. All her life in one place? They wonder what it’s like. “But why’re we at an apartment, then?”

Yosuke scratches his chin and loudly declares, “I’uhno.” the conversation ends there. A bit more of walking takes them to an open door – the only open door, rather, at the end of the ‘hallway’. It creaks slightly with each minuscule swing as it hangs, barely, onto its hinges, looking as though someone has broken in only to leave in a hurry. Something sick and uncomfortable settles in Yu’s stomach.

“We should head back.” Chie suggests.

Yu shakes their head. “We can’t,” they say, a bit too assertively, “we have to check it out.”

What greets them when they step past the door is… well, almost anti-climatically, an apartment flat. The disappoint settles in for less than a second before alarm immediately takes over, as one step further into the room suddenly paints it with vivid, unwanted ‘life’. Instead of just the plain black walls like when they step into the room, there are suddenly pictures all over the walls – tons and tons of them, all of a familiar woman whose name rests just on the tip of their tongue.

Chie takes in a deep, shaky breath. “What is all this?” she asks. “This is… this is so creepy.”

“And look at this.” Yosuke says and shuffles over to a lone chair in the middle of the room, right below what seems to be a makeshift noose via a scarf, and yet the only thing Yu can think while staring at the scarf is _‘would that really be a good method of committing suicide? Via a scarf?’ _they think it best to keep that thought to themself. “I – I gotta pee! I can’t handle this!” Yosuke cries out and Yu can only stare in alarm as he runs over to the right-hand corner – on the opposite side of the empty futon – and they blink rapidly when they hear the zip of Yosuke’s jeans.

“Now!? Of all times, Yosuke!?” Chie cries out in dismay. “Now! Of all times! Seriously! This is the worst time to be doing this!”

Yosuke scoffs like he is about to retort, though his voice jumps in his throat when an unfamiliar voice – feminine, clear, _exhausted _– rings out over all of them.

_“I don’t know what I did to deserve this,”_ the voice says. _“Maybe it’s my own fault for falling in love with a man who’s married.” _Yu looks at the walls and all the pictures, posters. Something clicks in place. _“But what am I supposed to do? I’m not allowed to be in love, to have emotions? I didn’t even want to approach him – I knew better. It’s okay to love, but you can’t act on it if that other person is taken. Besides, I had my integrity to worry about, my job, my reputation._

_“He didn’t love his wife. I interviewed him over a course of the week, and he told me he loved me – he confessed to me! He told me he didn’t love her. He told me that she didn’t love him back. Did I make a mistake? Should I have told his wife how he felt? He was being unfaithful… is this my fault? I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t say anything to him, but he wouldn’t leave. He wouldn’t stop being hopeful. I felt… wrong. I didn’t feel as happy as I thought I would.”_

Yosuke slowly zips his pants up. Chie grabs something from the floor and throws it at him for ruining the mood. Yu just feels a vague scratching sensation underneath their skin.

_“What am I to do, then?” _the voice continues. It feels almost extremely abrupt when Yu realises _who _the owner of this voice is. _“Should I have just told on him? Should I have done nothing? But I loved him, and he didn’t love her! This isn’t my fault, damn it! I was just human! I was going to ignore my feelings otherwise, but this is my work. I have to work! I have to interview him! He kept hinting! He kept trying! I should have said no! He didn’t even know me for long! I just… admired him, his ideals, his goals._

_“It never was love, was it?”_

“We should go.” Yu says and immediately marches off and grabs Chie and Yosuke by their elbows. The voice in the room speaks no more after that declaration and Yu bows their head down, wondering why it is that their heart slams against their ribcage and why their lungs feel so tight. Stumbling out of the flat reveals that the path back is the exact same and Chie is the one who leads them all back. They are back where they started all over again. _‘What is the point of all that then?’ _Yu thinks grumpily.

Yosuke taps his foot. “That was Yamano Mayumi, wasn’t it?” he asks, “it sounds like her. She was talking about Namatame Taro…” he looks away, “why did she sound so sad?”

“Huh?” Chie says. “You don’t seriously think that was her, right? And… I’uhno dude, if I died I’d be sad. Wouldn’t you be sad?”

“No,” Yosuke says blankly, “because I’d be dead.” a pause. “Anyway, I don’t think she was sad over being dead but… over being involved with Namatame, the politician.” he looks around, his eyes not stopping at any one location, and he rests his hands on his hips as he tries to think stuff over. “That whole spiel about love… doesn’t it feel like she was just trying to justify herself?”

Chie lets out a long-suffering sigh, as if she can’t be bothered to answer that. Yu’s hands curl into tight fists by their sides. “Do you have to judge her now?” Yu asks and Yosuke looks up in surprise, probably not expecting to be talked back to. “She’s already dead,” Yu says, “you don’t have to get mad at her when she’s already dead.”

“Look, I’m just saying…”

“And no one asked you.” Yu says blankly and Yosuke eyes them up and down. They try not to wither under his gaze.

“If you think you’re impressing Chie-chan, I don’t think you are.” Yosuke says after some time, his voice light-hearted and he winks at Yu, and their eyes widen. Chie just shakes her head and rolls her eyes, letting out a long, exaggerated groan. “Anyway, we gotta figure out a way out of here –” but they aren’t done – this isn’t just…

They open their mouth but all three of them end up being jostled out of their thoughts when they hear a loud, high-pitched voice calling out to them – a voice that is not theirs, and definitely not Yamano Mayumi. “Hey! Who are you guys? What’re you doing in my home!? Don’t you know how dangerous this place is!” they all turn their heads to look over at the source of the voice and they all yell at the sight before them. Instead of another human being like them, what stands before them is some sort of… malformed bear-creature. It looks almost like a small person in some sort of mascot costume – there is a zipper separating its dome-like blue head from its almost flat, conical body.

Almost as though a parody, the creature ‘wears’ some sort of red suit with a tie and shirt underneath, its eyes big and unblinking as it stares at the three of them. It hobbles over to them, its feet squeaking as it does. “Wh – what are you guys doing here? You don’t look like demons… actually, you look… I don’t know, you still look weird.”

“Demons?” Yu asks dumbly. Chie and Yosuke make some sort of odd gurgling sound behind them. Yu snaps themselves out of their stupor and then clears their throat, trying to meet the … bear thing head-on as they say, “we’re lost and we aren’t meant to be here. We fell through a TV…” they begin to explain it all to it and they learn, almost immediately, that the creature has no clue what Yu is talking about. After a few more moments of them dancing around each other irrationally while making nonsensical statements in lieu of explanation, they both seem to finally come at a basic understanding: the three of them are not supposed to be here, and it doesn’t know why they are here either.

It clasps its hands behind itself, eyes blinking (_‘how!_’ Yu thinks with growing distress) and its ears twitch. “Well, Teddie has no clue how you guys get here, but he’s gonna help you guys out. You shouldn’t be here! Neither you guys and that other woman who fell here!”

Yu startles. Yosuke and Chie both gasp behind them and the two of them huddle around Teddie almost immediately, though Yu quickly grabs at their shoulders and then yanks them back before either of them can say anything. “Hey! What’s that for?” Chie cries out and she yanks herself away, a glare on her face. Yosuke jolts out of their grip as well, but Yu only focuses on the bear before them. “Jeez, so rude…”

“A woman fell here?” Yu asks, but before they can say anything else they all startle as the fog begins to clear. The bear starts flailing his arms up and down, letting out a shrill, panicked yet, and he begins to stomp his right foot and clap his hands. “What are you doing?” it isn’t Yu who says this but rather Yosuke, who sounds clearly fed-up and maybe if not a bit panicky.

Teddie whirls around, checking behind and around them, and then he begins to immediately tremble. “You guys have to get out of here! You have to!” he goes back to clapping and stomping and then spins around with a flourish. The three of them yell as a stack of televisions fall next to them, all of them glowing pink despite having yellow and black swirls on their screens. Teddie runs far from them, lets out an embarrassingly weak battle cry, and then charges at all of them.

They fall through the TV.

* * *

Yu lands on their face first, following by Yosuke and Chie who land on their back, and they try not to gargle and die underneath their combined weight. It takes a minute, or two, or fifty, before Chie and Yosuke realise what is happening and they scramble off of them the moment they are aware of who they are laying down on. “Oh my god I’m so sorry!” and “I didn’t mean to, holy shit dude!” escape them at the exact same time, their voices mixing together.

Checking their phone, they see that Chisato sends them a lot of panicky messages and they send her a text letting her know they will be coming home soon. Chie departs from them in a sprint, admitting that she doesn’t want to be around here any longer and she wants to go to sleep. Yosuke, to their surprise, stays behind a little longer. He looks down at the floor, his hair curtaining around him as best it can in spite of its length, and he pointedly avoids Yu’s gaze.

His shoulders slump over and Yu can hear the gulp in his throat, takes in the way he swallows and watches his Adam’s apple bob up and down, prominent and anxious. He glances over at Yu and then takes the headset off from around his neck, his fingers trembling around the ears, before he sighs and puts them away in his bag. No music is playing from the headset in the first place. “Look,” Yosuke says, and they stare at him with their flip phone in hand, their auntie on dial, and he swallows again, “do you… ah, why am I even asking you?”

They blink. Chisato answers their call and they turn away to speak to her and let her know when they will come back and where they are. The entire time, Yosuke stands and waits, his arms crossing in front of him again and his eyebrows pinch together. He looks tired, like this – without the headset to make him seem energetic and sprightly, he just looks ordinary. Yu tries not to say that out loud while they flip their phone shut.

“What is it?” Yu asks, “I may be new, but I’m still a person. I could probably help out.”

Yosuke frowns. As long as it isn’t a scowl then Yu isn’t going to complain. He shifts from one foot to the other, then shrugs. “I called Saki-senpai earlier today but she didn’t answer,” this is probably while Chie drags them around the school in search of Yosuke with Yu assuming the call being why it took some time to find him, “and when I called her home her parents said they haven’t seen her. I don’t think you can help with that.”

Yu shakes their head. “No,” they say, “I can’t help with a girl I don’t know.”

The way Yosuke looks at them is critical, intense, and he eyes them up and down. Yu stares back at Yosuke as intensely as they can, trying to convey to him how it feels to be scrutinized. They don’t know if he gets it when he finally looks up at their face. “You’re very refreshingly blunt, aren’t you? You don’t see that much in people. Not even other boys.”

They shrug. The two of them part ways after they get to the lobby of Junes and Chisato is already at the front door, waiting to pick Yu up. They grunt when Yosuke tells them goodbye and they don’t acknowledge him beyond that, mostly due to exhaustion from everything that happens today – a world in the television? Demons? Weird bears? They are so tired. They don’t tell Chisato why they spend so long in Junes but she doesn’t push either, her gaze sympathetic and kind in a way that makes Yu’s heart pang. They miss their mom while they stand near a black delivery truck, trying to fight back a frown. Maybe they can send a message to her personal e-mail and tell her that they are doing well?

The Velvet Room doesn’t visit them in their dreams that night. They wonder why.

* * *

This morning news does a replay of the interview with the witness of the scene – a girl who looks extremely like Konishi Saki, except with her eyes censored with a black bar and her entire scene is drowning in mosaics. Her voice is deeper, artificially so – as expected, they assume – and it sounds grating to the ears to listen to, especially with the way she stutters nervously and uncomfortably. The interviewer pushes and pushes and pushes and they catch sight of Chisato rolling her eyes out of the corner of their own.

Moments later, there is an announcement that the very girl that they are thinking about has been filed as missing – a news they don’t expect to see, but assume is there because of the town being small. They bring their phone out, flip it open, and stare at Yosuke’s name in their contacts list.

They put their phone away.


	6. Chapter 5

Yosuke, throughout the days that Konishi Saki is missing, turns into a fidgeting, nervous wreck. Yu doesn’t know how to deal with it – not out of lack of _trying, _but they just simply do not know anything or enough about Konishi or Yosuke to really say anything. Chie is the one who comforts him the most while Yu sits by awkwardly and has their hands flutter around Yosuke’s body, unaware as to whether or not boys are okay with physical touch for comfort. At the very least, Yosuke lets Chie pet his back and rub circles on it, but Chie is a girl. She is most decidedly a girl. Yu’s fingers curl into their palms.

The rain is almost non-stop as well, yet it barely lasts three days before a heavy, blinding fog settles over all of them. Chie comes into class that foggy morning, looking oddly upset

“I finally watched the Midnight Channel,” Chie says with a face of someone sucking on sour lemons, “and… I saw someone there. But I couldn’t really make out who it was, and the voice was so distorted.”

Yu blinks and then jostles back in alarm. Yukiko, Chie and Yosuke’s gazes all snap onto them, regarding them carefully as Yu tenses up and stares at them all with wide, disbelieving eyes. “What do you mean?” they ask, trying not to let the distress seep out into their voice, “when I watched it… I could see her clearly, I heard her perfectly. It was… it was Konishi-san.” Yu says quietly, lowly, as if they don’t want Yosuke to hear, but he still widens his eyes and stiffens up. Yukiko looks between all of them with confusion clear in his eyes. _‘How do I explain to Yukiko-san the existence of the TV world?’ _Yu thinks, but then realises that it doesn’t matter.

None of them have gone back, too anxious to do so and with no real way of being sure that they will come back. Chie bringing it up however immediately makes the atmosphere around the three of them heavy and suffocating. Yukiko, thankfully, seems unaffected. She tucks one strand of hair behind her ear before she says, “I watched it with Chie-chan too. I could guess who it was... but, well. It’s strange, though… if it is who I think it is and if Yu-kun is correct, then she seemed so… sad, bitter.”

Yosuke furrows his brows and he rests his hands on his hips. “What do you mean?” he asks.

Yukiko looks to the side, away from the entire group, then continues on, “she hated herself, and spoke about how she hated it all.” the sentiment is vague but Yu doesn’t press her to say more and neither does Yosuke. Chie chews on her lower lip.

“Hopefully it doesn’t mean anything.” Chie says. The bell rings moments later and everyone heads to their seats for the first period of the day.

* * *

Another announcement goes off at the exact same time as sirens blare in the distance and the students are, once again, stuck inside of the school building for a bit longer. Yosuke swallows down the lump in his throat the exact same time that Chie starts tapping her desk rapidly with her pen. Yu reads over their notes while everyone waits with bated breath. Students whisper among themselves, wondering if another murder has happened. A serial killing in a small town like this must be exciting in all the wrong ways, Yu thinks.

A few minutes later they are let out of the school, though this time the road to the residential area is blocked off by police cars. Yukiko is quick to excuse herself and then call her parents to pick her up from school, trying to get back to the inn faster. Yosuke sweats bullets and Chie fidgets.

Neither of them talk to Yu and they just stay quiet as well. They can’t think of anything to say. They are still a new student, after all. They are just a new student. Just… new. And trying to start all over again. What can they say other than “stay safe, goodbye” when they all depart? Chisato isn’t home yet and neither is Nanako, who is more than likely at her mother’s workplace and busy doing homework or drawing. When she gets home in an hour and a half, Nanako will then finish up the rest of her homework and then watch TV until curfew.

Yu settles on cooking for them after they turn the TV on and change out of their school uniform. The sound of oil sizzling gives them something to focus on while they let the weather report go in one ear and out the other. It doesn’t take long for them to focus back on the television, however –

_“… following these news, the disappearance of Konishi Saki has been taking up the town by storm,” _the newscaster says and Yu looks over their shoulder after turning the stove off, _“daughter of the Konishi’s winery owners, Konishi Saki was last seen leaving her home after going to her part-time job at Junes. Though a university student at Kyoujou university, due to the protest and issues going on no university student has been able to go to their classes yet. Officials have not been –”_

They turn the TV off just as Chisato and Nanako come home, with the former declaring their arrival and the latter running up excitedly and crying out about the smell of food. “Did you make food, cous’? Did you?” she asks while excitedly tugging on Yu’s apron and they can’t help but smile. Despite the initial reception, Nanako seems to warm up to them quickly – especially after them walking her to school every morning. They let her talk about Super Sentai to them despite them barely understanding what Nanako is saying, and that seems to be enough for her to trust Yu.

She tugs at their skirt, then their apron, and then lifts her arms up and Yu finally realises what Nanako wants as they bend down and lift her up into their arms. She hugs them tightly, arms around her their neck and face in their shoulder, and Yu feels warmth spreading throughout their chest. “I can’t serve the food if you’re holding me like this, Nanako-chan.” Yu says after some time and Chisato laughs while she serves the food for the three of them.

Nanako hugs them tighter and only lets go when Chisato takes her into her own arms and then takes them over to the kotatsu to eat. Yu excuses themselves early so that they can go to sleep and Chisato waves at them while Nanako gives an enthusiastic goodnight, then poses like one of the warriors from Super Sentai. Yu returns it as best they can and Nanako cheers.

A call jolts Yu the moment they step into their room, their phone vibrating near violently on their desk, and they flip it open once they have it in their hand. The call is from Yosuke.

_‘Why me? Wouldn’t Chie-san be better?’ _Yu thinks before they press accept to the call request. Better than not answering, they suppose. They can do their homework after this phone call.

* * *

Yosuke is persuasive when he wants to be, and that is how Yu finds themself agreeing to this absolutely insane idea.

“Are you guys NUTS!” Chie cries out, even as she grips the rope tight enough to give herself burns and for her fists to tremble. Though, it is fairer to say her entire body is trembling. “You should NOT be doing this! This is dangerous! This is not safe, at all! How are you guys so sure you’re going to come back!”

Yu looks down at the rope around Yosuke’s hips, tied around so that it is just enough to let Chie grasp onto it a good distance away and yank back. They look around the electronics store, then stare up at the ceiling as the beg God to answer them as to why this is happening. _‘God is dead and we killed Him.’ _is what Yu finally settles on when Yosuke manages to calm Chie down from her very justified hysterics. “How are you sure you guys are gonna get out?” Chie barks out, her voice wobbly and wet with uncertain fears.

“We have the rope,” Yosuke says limply, “we’re relying on you, okay? You have to be the one to save us when things get rough. I’ll yank on the rope three times if we need to escape, okay?”

Chie sniffles. “I don’t think this’ll work.” she says, voicing the thoughts that Yu doesn’t want to admit to having.

But then they think back to Yosuke’s words, to how he says, _“I need you to help me. I need to. I need to know if Saki-senpai really is in the television, and if… if we can get her out. I … I just have to check for something, okay? We need to rescue her. And I don’t wanna do this alone.”_ and they find a sort of heaviness sinking into the pits of their belly that demands them to help him. Curse the seed of human kindness that grows in them all, only to wither in others and bloom in some.

“Let’s go.” Yu says. Looking around to make sure no one else is around and feeling a bit of pity for Chie, they turn towards the television and press their hands against it. Sinking in and falling is just as disorientating as the first time, though this time they manage to land safely on their feet instead of smacking down onto their face. The bruises from that fall still have phantom aches, and the hoops that they have to jump through to explain that to Chisato is a handful that one time – they don’t want to imagine a second!

The world is still the same. Nothing different, yet nothing normal. Yu feels cockroaches skitter along their muscles, dragging hairy legs across sensitive tissue, and they twitch at the thousands of mosquito bites they feel across their skin. They pat at their arms, even if nothing is there. It makes the sensation go away, for a second or two maybe, and they sigh heavily. There is a silence that doesn’t last long as a familiar… bear-creature pokes its head out from somewhere and then screeches in horror and panic.

“What are you guys doing here!” Teddie yells as he rushes up to them, desperate and scared, and then he begins to flail his arms. “I don’t get it! First that woman, then you guys, then that gal, then you guys AGAIN! Why can’t you all just leave my home alone!” he stops, straightens up his back (does he even have a spine?), and then points his finger back and forth between the two of them. “Aha! It’s you guys! You’re the reason why these people are showing up and surprising the demons and dying, aren’t’cha!?”

What follows is a series of events that can almost be described as terrible TV skits, with main hosts Yosuke and Teddie and guest appearance Yu. Predictably Yosuke explodes and yells something along the lines of, “what, no! You moron! We’re not here to kill anyone, we’re trying to investigate the murders! That ‘other woman’ was my FRIEND! She’s someone important to me! I’m here to fucking save her, not kill her!”

Teddie eeps and cowers immediately, looking abruptly small, and they rush to Yu the moment they open their arms up and he hugs them, tightly. He skitters around behind them and tries to hide behind their lean, skinny frame, and Yosuke and Yu just stare at each other. Most of Teddie is poking out from behind Yu and they can see him, trembling, from the cower of their eyes. Yosuke still fumes, however.

“Hey, hey – it’s just… this is my home, and… and stuff keeps happening, and you’re the only weirdos I’ve seen here! Don’t get mad at me! I’m – I’m being reasonable!”

Yu sighs. “Yosuke-kun, calm down a second. Yelling at Teddie won’t help us, and he won’t want to help us if you scare him.” Teddie peeks up at them and Yu tries to ignore the sudden pang of ‘cute fluffy animal’ that shoots them straight through the heart. This is no time to be weak! “Let’s just hear him out for now, okay?” though Yosuke is still burning with rage, he grits his teeth and waves at Teddie to come out from behind his cowardly position and then chews on this thumbnail while Yu and Teddie negotiate.

The two of them go back and forth, sometimes with Yosuke jumping in to gripe at Teddie for being suspicious of them – which Yu supposes they can’t blame him for. They are strangers, and the only other strangers just stay there and cannot be found for some reason or another. _‘Are the TVs linked to specific areas in the world?’ _Yu wonders, _‘if this TV is moved, does that mean we won’t fall into here anymore, or will we still fall into here because this TV was specifically given this location point?’_

They don’t ask that question.

“I – I think I get what you guys are saying… but did you two really have no plans on getting out?” Teddie says incredulously, which only makes Yu feel stupider for taking on this ‘mission’, “the only reason why you guys got out the first time was because I helped you out! What if I didn’t find you guys this time? You would’ve been trapped! Oh man, you would’ve… you would’ve… died.” Teddie looks down, his eyes half-lidded and his lips in a frown, “just like them.”

Unaffected by Teddie’s concern, Yosuke snorts. “Well, we had a backup plan! Behold!” Yosuke grabs at his rope and throws it up into the air… and whacks himself in the face with it the moment he tries to show it off. “… huh?” he says, his brain rebooting after a few seconds, and then he stares at the frayed end of the rope. He tugs at it around his hips, then looks up, then down, then up again. He screams. Teddie screeches in fear.

Yu wishes they have earplugs right about now. Once the cacophony of noises end, Yosuke throws the rope up into the air again and slams it against his own cheek.

“No – no way! No way! This plan was a bust!? It wasn’t going to work!?”

_‘Clearly not.’_

“You guys would’ve been so screwed if it wasn’t for me,” Teddie says, “what were you thinking!?”

The two of them can’t say anything to that, especially not when neither of them can think of a rebuttal. The only thing Yu can think of is, _‘maybe the people from the Velvet Room will save us.’ _but even then, they haven’t been there in days. What is to say that the Velvet Room is readily available, anyway? “Well, that doesn’t matter right now. We ran into you, anyway,” Yu says gently and Teddie toes at the ground beneath him.

Yosuke then jumps in, taking the chance to explain everything that he needs to; “we need your help,” Yosuke begins, “or at least, maybe you can help us. Lemme introduce us first, I guess. This is Yu, and I’m Yosuke.” he indicates at them and himself with a jab of his thumb, his voice lighter than before though still stern, serious. Yu thinks he almost sounds like a mobster if they strain hard enough and squint their eyes to distort Yosuke’s image. “A girl I really care for… my best friend, really, has gone missing, but we all saw her on the Midnight Channel…”

“The Midnight Channel?” Teddie asks. Yosuke takes some time to explain it to him as best he can and Teddie looks like he almost gets it, but not quite.

With that out of the way, Yosuke continues, “and we—” _‘rather, you alone,’ _Yu corrects internally, “—think that this world might have something to do with it. Teddie, you gotta know something, right?” Yosuke says imploringly and Teddie shrinks a little. “You said that another woman fell into here, right? And the other day, we went off somewhere where the previous victim – Yamano Mayumi – was. Do you know what we mean?”

Teddie’s ears twitch for a moment and he brings his paw up to pat thoughtfully at his ‘chin’. “Oh! I – I think I know what you’re talking about. You went to a weird place that was different from the rest of this world, right?” Teddie says and they both immediately nod, with Yosuke especially beaming now that he is getting somewhere, “what I think is happening is that, um… well, okay. This is gonna take some explanation, so um… just, uh, gimme a sec, okay?

“This is a section of what’s called ‘the demon realm’, which is where all demons – in general – live. Most demons just stay in one section of the realm for most of their lives, unless something happens and they get to go out into the ‘Outer’ Realm. I’ve only been to other sections once or twice because it’s kinda hard to leave your own section because of the power disparity, but this section’s different.

“The difference is ‘cause there’s something in the air that makes the demons all weird and stuff. It makes me feel sick when it starts to rain and there’s no more fog, but it makes most of the other demons just super mad and crazy.” Teddie explains, to best his ability. “I think… because you guys came from the Outer Realm, or I suppose the Human Realm, and you aren’t meant to _be _here, it’s messin’ my home up and these places, let’s call them palaces, are poppin’ up based off of the humans who fall into here. Though, I don’t know the reason why. You guys haven’t gotten palaces popping up! Not that I can smell anyway.”

Yu crosses their arms and watches Yosuke do the same, the both of them trying to digest all of the information Teddie is giving them. Though he explains it slowly and carefully, trying to make sense of his own thoughts, it is still _a lot _to take in. Yosuke speaks up after a few moments in silent contemplation, “can you take us to the most recent ‘palace’ of the other woman?”

“But, it’s dange-”

“I have to go there!” Yosuke snaps. “I have to. I have to confirm it and see it for myself. Please, Teddie.”

“… okay.”

They all wander off together, heading off a path different than the one to Yamano Mayumi’s ‘palace’, and Yu twiddles their thumbs together. The conversations during their walking is of Teddie and Yosuke arguing back and forth with each other, the latter especially chastising the former for his cowardice as he stands far back. Yu just does their best to ignore their bickering and, instead, lets their restless eyes wander as well and take in the area they are walking through. To, perhaps, some surprise the place looks exactly like the upper business walkway – they recognise almost all of the shops from the last time Chisato and they go on a walk there, with her showing Yu around and pointing to places of notes.

The Konishi liquor store, however, stands the most prominent as they begin to slowly approach it. Again, Yosuke speaks up, “this is where Saki-senpai’s family works!”

“Saki-senpai…?” Teddie says uncertainly, getting no answer as Yosuke just continues to power forward.

“Then… she really has fallen in the TV world, didn’t she?” Yu asks, a sickly pallor taking over Yosuke’s face as the two of them get closer and closer to the liquor store, “this is… this is her family’s place.” Yosuke stumbles over himself and he grabs at the rope around his hips, hands tugging at it in a way that will definitely give him rope burns. He inhales sharply, deeply while he widens his eyes and exhales slowly, his entire body bending and slumping with the motion. He shivers.

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” he finally says as they all stop before the shop that is covered in an odd, yellowish-red shimmer. He takes a step towards the door then stops, turns around, and looks up at Yu imploringly.

Yu opens their mouth to say something but the words never come out. Teddie yells, his voice shrill with panic, and Yu chokes on their own saliva and stumble backwards. Yosuke looks at them with confusion clearly written on his face before he turns around and yells, stumbling backwards when he takes sight of what it is that seems to be causing them distress.

A floating, grey-skinned man with long, blood-soaked brown hair hovers over Yosuke; he has three pairs of arms, all of them wielding swords and weaponry, and his eyes are wide and bloodshot. He grins wide, revealing rows of sharp, dangerous teeth, and he shambles forward with his ragged, torn armour. Beside him is some sort of ooze that crawls and wails, its body full of dirty bones that sway and flow through the slime that is its form, and Yosuke stumbles back with a scream and falls onto his rump.

The brown-haired demon lifts up its arms, raising all of its swords, and stalks closer and closer to Yosuke.

It is in that moment that Yu’s world slows down considerably, everything moving at a snail’s pace – everything but their panicking, rampant thoughts, running them ragged in their attempts to get Yu to _move, _to do anything, to fight. Teddie is frozen still to their left, his face taken up with absolute terror, and he seems incapable of doing anything but watch as the wretched demon gets closer and closer in big, large steps that don’t allow for Yosuke to crawl away.

_‘I… I want to save him. I have to!’ _Yu thinks, _‘I want to save him!’_

A burning sensation begins at the back of their neck, right below their hairline, and Yu’s hand flies upwards to scratch at their skin. It worsens and worsens, the burn quickly becoming unbearable and they feel as if they are boiling from the inside, their skin bubbling and heating up unnaturally. They open their mouth and scream – long and loud and desperate, catching the attention of everyone as the world moves on as normal.

_“Though you have called upon me, you have yet to face your true inner-demons. The you who has made a deal, I come to assist you through this world. Come, let us be as one and save your friend.”_

They grab at their head and gasp as the pain begins to subside, dying away until it feels like a spark of electricity beneath their skin. Their hand reaches out on automatic, their entire body shaking while their mouth moves without their control –

_“Call upon me.”_

“Per…” their vision blurs, their mind being overtaken by one single thought.

_“Fear no longer.”_

“So…” a tarot card gently floats down towards them, swirling in mystical dust right before their hand.

_“You are helpless, no more.”_

“NA!” they yell as they grab onto the card and watch as it bursts into shimmering, multi-coloured clouds. Everything after that is a blur. A cloaked figure appears above Yu, wearing a mess with two eye-holes that reveals golden orbs in a black background, and wielding a large katana. Its scarf sways in the wind behind it and the demons before Yosuke stare up at the figure in surprise. “… Izanagi,” Yu says while grasping onto their head with both hands, even as there is no need to. “Kill them – Izanagi!”

The fight afterwards doesn’t take long, mostly due to the demons being taken aback and surprised by the appearance of ‘Izanagi’. The demons’ corpses all bubble up and then explode into dust, and the figure as well disappears into a puff of smoke once its work is gone. a card falls into Yu’s grasp once the smoke dissipates – the very same one that they use to summon it up in the first place. Abruptly, all of the odd sensations begin to clear and – when they look up – it is to the sight of Yosuke’s clear surprise and Teddie’s shock and awe. “How did you do that?” Yosuke asks at the same time that Teddie exclaims, “that was AMAZING sensei!”

“You – you – what was that!” Yosuke continues to say as he forces himself up to a stand, “you called it a persona? And you just summoned it? And you – you saved me! Dude, you saved me!”

“Konishi-san…?”

Yosuke blinks. “Oh! Oh – yes. Um. We can – we can go in now, right? You’ll be able to protect me if we run into any more of those, right? Right! You totally can! Oh my god, dude, Yu-kun, you are THE MAN!”

It is almost impressive how quickly Yosuke goes from scared to confident – it is impressive in a way that is almost rather terrifying, if Yu is permitted to be a bit of an ass about things for a moment. Teddie trails after them uncertainly when a newly-revitalized Yosuke grabs at Yu’s elbow and begins to tug him into the simulacrum of the Konishi liquor store, though he stays closer to the door instead of going in further – he claims it is to keep watch over everywhere. Neither of them mention that they know its because Teddie is scared out of his wits.

The inside of the liquor store is as unpleasant as they expect it to be – it is dark and void of people or anything resembling a store, looking more like an abandoned attic of a house that is hundreds upon hundreds of years old. Boxes line up random parts of the tiny, cramped space, turning into mountains of endless paper-yen, bills and broken bottles. An abandoned TV flickers on and off in the corner, a large crack spanning across its small screen, and all it seems to show vague snippets of is the news. No sound comes out of the TV.

Yu and Yosuke look at each other.

“Why did we come here?” Yu asks.

“I want to know what happened, and I want to save her.” Yosuke says resolutely and he lets go of Yu’s elbow, “I want to hear what Saki-senpai was thinking, and hopefully maybe I’ll find her. But… I want to know.”

_‘Would knowing make you feel better?’_

They spend some time checking the area a bit, looking for anything that can give hints as to what Konishi Saki feels before her disappearance. They don’t really find anything, though when they turn to tell Yosuke what they don’t find they stop and take in his tense shoulders. He is standing before the cracked TV, watching something take place, and when Yu comes by they realise that it isn’t the news that is playing anymore. Instead, an argument between Saki and her – presumed – parents seem to be playing out on the screen.

There is, again, no sound from the broken tech but even Yu can tell that whatever is going on seems to be hated and passionate. It ends with Saki storming out and slamming the door shut and the screen goes black. They look up at Yosuke’s face.

It is after that discovery that the same phenomenon back at Yamano Mayumi’s palace occurs here; Saki’s crystal clear voice starts to flow into the room and Yosuke tenses even further as he hears her voice. They hope… they hope, for Yosuke’s sake, that Konishi Saki isn’t dead.

_“We always argued over the same things,” _Saki says, her voice heavy with fatigue and upset, _“business wasn’t doing well. We couldn’t sell any alcohol, and we were starting to struggle with money. So… I did odd jobs. I worked part-time whenever I could and… and they tolerated it.” _the television clicks to life and a long, droning sound whines out from it while it plays several scenes of Saki – of her working, of her desperately trying to save up money, of her not using her allowance frivolously and making sure to spend on nothing but what is needed.

Notebooks, pencils, pens, those sort of things. She works herself ragged, young and taking multiple jobs and spending long nights studying for tests and school, staying on-top of work while barely managing time for herself.

Abruptly, the television turns off… then clicks back to life again, though it shows only the Junes logo in all its glory._ “They put up with me working… Until I started working at Junes.” _she sighs. Yosuke looks even sicker than the first time he sees the store. _“Then it just became constant screaming and arguments… Junes paid me well, and I pretty much gave all of my money to my parents, but they hated it! I don’t know why they kept getting mad at me. I’m not Junes! I’m not! I just want our family to not fall into financial ruin! I was trying to help…_

_“Then… then the neighbours began to talk about me. Gossip about me. What did I do wrong!” _she cries out – voices erupt all around, of older women whispering among themselves, talking lowly of the girl who is betraying her family’s work and business by working with the enemy. A cacophony of noise that builds and builds into incomprehensible chanting... then silence. _“I just wanted to help my fucking parents! I worked hard! I studied hard, I barely slept to make sure I got good grades! I got into Kyoujou university! I was going to go to dentist school and then help the family out! But they got angrier at me! They kept asking me why! Why was I friends with Yosuke-kun, why did I keep working at Junes! I don’t fucking get it!”_

Yu flinches. Yosuke’s mouth falls open, their tongue looking extremely pale and dry. He breathes heavily, quickly, and Yu looks around. _“… Yosuke-kun confessed to me. I like him, as a friend, but – I never… I never told my parents he did that. They would’ve hated me. They would’ve forced me to never talk to him again. Why? Why did he have to fall in love with me? I just… it’s not his fault. I know it isn’t. None of this is. _

_“It’s my fault this all happened. If only I worked harder…”_

He brings his hands up to his face and lets out a sob, Yu watching on helplessly as Saki’s voice only seems to send Yosuke into a deeper spiral than they expect. The hopefulness and joy is all gone, the confidence, the surety… in its place, instead, upset takes over. Yosuke crumbles then, his shoulders hunching over and shaking while he tries to further bury his face in his palms, as if to try and hide away from this world, from Yu, from _everything. _His knees buckle and then his legs give way, with him falling down onto their knees and looking even smaller when he simply lets it happen and follows the movement by further curling into himself.

“**What’re YOU crying over?**” Yosuke’s voice says, except – its not Yosuke. Its Yosuke if his voice is run through a filter, distorting it into something unpleasant and unwanted. Yu and Yosuke both jerk upwards and look over to the source of the voice – Yosuke… Yosuke stands there, except. It’s not Yosuke. It isn’t him. Just like how his voice isn’t. There are deep lines on his face, sunken and hollow, and he looks… skinnier, frail. Smog flows from his pores and his golden eyes glow wide with disdain and amusement, his mouth curls up into a nasty grin.

Teddie steps in, looking just as alarmed as they do. “There’s… There’s two Yosuke-sans!?”

“No, dumbass!” Yosuke calls out with a watery voice, fist rubbing at his eyes frantically as he says, “I’m the real Yosuke!”

The fake Yosuke laughs. “**Really? You really think that? Okay then, if you’re so real, then why the fuck don’t you tell everyone how you really feel, huh? How you’re cryin’ because you didn’t get to fuck Saki.**” he jeers and Yosuke stutters.

“N – no! Don’t be gross! I am – I am real! Okay!? I’m upset because she’s dead, and she was struggling and…”

“**Really? Are you sure? Or are you sure it ain’t ‘cause you spent way too fuckin’ long in love with a girl who isn’t even that hot, huh?**”

Yosuke’s hands curl into tight fists once he comes to a stand, his eyes still wet with tears, “no! Don’t reduce her into that! I don’t care if she wasn’t super hot, I loved her because of her! Because she was kind, she worked hard, and – and she even had the same interests as me!”

The fake Yosuke’s smile grows wider. “**Really? You’re so delusional. Then why’d you ask Yukiko out then, huh? She’s prettier than Saki, and she’s still in school with you. Wouldn’t it be easier to just go out with her instead?**” he throws his arms out, as if inviting everyone to praise him and his brilliance, and Yosuke looks at him with utter disbelief. The fake Yosuke moves his lanky body with ease, swaggering close to the real one with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“**Everyone wants Yukiko, and if you got to date her then you’d be the talk of the school! You’d be so popular, everyone would fawn over you! Haha! It’s the same reason why you want to figure out what’s going on. You want to be famous for ‘cracking the case’! I’m what you really think, what you really want! You came here, in deadbeat Inaba from the fucking city where everything happens, and now you get the opportunity to solve a murder case? It’s the perfect time for it! **

**“You just want to be fucking popular so everyone loves you! You don’t care about the brains of a girl either, you care about the bod! A girl’s nothing if she’s ugly!**”

Yosuke almost roars in disagreement, “I don’t want that! I don’t want to do that! I just want to know why she had to die! You’re a fucking liar!”

Teddie tugs at Yu’s sleeve. “Sensei,” he says in a whisper, “I – I think something bad’s going to happen. Keep your guard up, okay? Please… please, for my sake.”

At the exact time that he says that and finishes that sentiment, Yosuke clenches his fists by his side and shouts to the fake before him, who grins widely and ecstatically. Yosuke shakes his head vigorously, bows forward, and his entire body shakes and moves with his voice as it bellows out of him and a damning sentence slips free from his throat – “YOU’RE NOT ME!”

Fake Yosuke begins to laugh. Real Yosuke grabs at his throat, eyes wide, and begins to choke and cough – he claws at his neck, nails living behind rough, red trails, and his eyes roll up into his skull as he chokes and coughs as if someone is choking him. His body goes limp, his arms fall to his side, and then he sways back and forth before keeling over completely. He lands by the fake Yosuke’s feet, who continues to laugh and gloat, body bending backwards with his laugh as shadows begin to conglomerate around him. A large, black ball forms around him before melting away, turning into an oozing puddle around the new demon that appears.

A large creature with a round, wide lower body appears – it looks almost like a bulb with many legs spawning out of it, similar to that of a skittering caterpillar on a spring’s leaf. From its top is a humanoid upper body, though its arms stretch out into hands shaped like toad’s feet and its face has an unsettling, sharp-teeth Cheshire’s grin. It has no eyes yet it has big, round ears that hang and flop with each movement. Drool drags down, copiously, from the demon’s mouth. Yu takes a step back.

“**I am the shadow! The true self! I’m the real me, not that fucking coward poser! Look upon me, and despair!**”

What follows after is… another battle. The creature sways side to side and Teddie runs off for cover, leaving Yu to find for themself, but he does offer to be some sort of… navigator, or something, for Yu. “I can read their weaknesses!” Teddie exclaims excitedly, despite the fact that his claim makes absolutely zero sense to Yu. Well, whatever. They can’t really focus on semantics right now, as this creature borne from deep within fake Yosuke is desperate to kill them and they rather not die right about now. Something deep within them tells them that dying right now – besides it just meaning the end of potentially their, Teddie’s, and Yosuke’s lives – has far deeper consequences than they can recall.

Teddie kicks something their way to use as a weapon – “use this small wooden beam as a makeshift sword!” he exclaims, and Yu grabs it just in time to have to parry one of the shadow-creature’s attacks. Everything after that is a desperate battle, mostly because Yu still has no clue what they are really doing.

The creature manages to land a few blows – one when Yu parries and then stops to stare at the sword in confusion and he slams against their side. Another when Yu manages to slash at its stomach and call Izanagi in to electrocute it, only for it to kick out and slam its ‘foot’ into Yu just before it goes into shock. And the final time is when Yu dives in to protect Yosuke’s unconscious body from being crushed.

Needless to say… everything hurts. A lot. Yet there is no mark upon their body even if the pain is very, very real. They breathe heavily just before they land the finishing blow onto the creature with a swipe of Izanagi’s sword, its form dissipating and melting away into a thick puddle that slips between the cracks of the Konishi liquor store. Despite that, however, the fake Yosuke isn’t dead – if anything, once its massive, ugly form is gone, he merely… stands there. Menacingly. And with a blank expression, not so dissimilar from that of a mannequin. Yu shuffles around the still statue of the fake-Yosuke (or the Shadow-Yosuke…?) and heads over to the actual Yosuke who is beginning to stir awake.

“What happened…?” Yosuke groans out as Teddie and Yu help him stand up, though he ends up leaning into them to try and keep balance up.

“You passed out.” Yu says. “Your… fake you turned into some sort of gross monster and I killed it, but the fake you is still there. It called itself a shadow.” they blink. That’s odd… they peer at the deeper brown of Yosuke’s hair, trying to see if anything is a miss, and they try not to frown while they do. There is a niggling sensation in the back of their head that _something _is wrong. They swallow the lump in their throat down, clear it, and then turn away to look back at the shadow Yosuke that just stands there and does nothing but wait.

“That thing… that is not –” Yosuke begins only for Teddie to shush him loudly and jump up to smack his paw against his mouth. Yosuke stares, dumbfounded, at Teddie who looks back at the shadow, paws rubbing together.

He peeks up at Yosuke. “I think… I think you shouldn’t say that,” Teddie says softly, “it turned into a monster because you denied it. I think… I think that Yosuke is a part of you, the you that you don’t wanna think about.”

_‘The You he doesn’t want to think about…?’ _“As in,” Yu says, “his inner demons?”

That seems to spark something in Yosuke, who closes his mouth from whatever protest that sits at the tip of his tongue. He grinds his teeth then stomps his way over to the shadow Yosuke, who does not react even as the real one gets closer to it. He stops with tense shoulders and straight back, with his chin raised up and his legs pressed together while his hands curl to fists by his sides, in front of the mannequin-frozen shadow. He breathes in through his mouth and exhales out of it too, letting free a whoosh of air that seems to almost echo in the store.

Silence, as golden as oxidized copper, hangs over all of them like an executioner’s axe.

Finally, “I’m still going to say this – you’re not all of me, not really. But… you are the part of me that I try to deny. That I try to pretend doesn’t exist. The part that I go to sleep at night remembering it’s there, but… I don’t want to think about it. Because that’s the me I hate… but – I have to acknowledge you’re there, too, that you’re me… too, and that I need to be better than the parts I hate.”

The shadow-self looks at him and nods, mechanically. It reaches out to him, then – a hand outstretching towards him, palm upwards, and offering the grip of an ally than that of an enemy wishing to trick him. Yosuke looks down at the other’s palm and Yu wonders what sort of face he is making right now. Is he angry? Tired? Sad? Scared?

Serene?

He places his hand atop the shadow’s palm and then gasps loudly as the shadow-Yosuke dissipates into white sparkles that float upwards into the air. White, glittering orbs circle and revolve around each other, speeding up, and then with a small burst of speed they slam into one another and let free a small, insignificant explosion. In place of white sparkles, a card forms and gently floats down onto Yosuke’s palm.

_“I am thou, thou… art I. You have faced the inner-demons that plagued your soul, and now I – Jiraiya – come to your aid through the conduit available to you. Accept me into you, and call me as your own. You need not fear, for you are no longer alone. I shall be the mask that will try to shield you from the horrors of this world.”_

Yosuke stands there, staring at his palm, at the card in it, and Yu walks up to his side and puts a hand on his elbow. They open their mouth to say something, but are quick to notice something over Yosuke’s shoulder and their breath catches in their throat.

Is that…?

“Look, there’s someone there.” Yu says carefully and they remove their hand so that Yosuke can turn around. They hear him gasp, and he immediately pushes away from Yu to go to where they indicate earlier… for but a brief second, he disappears into the shadows of the winery, and then comes back – with a person in his arms.

Laying in his arms, with a hand on her stomach and the other one dancing by her side, is Konishi Saki – unconscious and looking almost feverish, Yosuke is quick to pass her over to Yu who almost falls from the surprise exchange. “What –”

“I just want to stay behind for a little bit,” Yosuke says in explanation, “sorry for just… shoving her onto you.”

“What are you going to do now?” Yu asks while carefully rearranging Konishi Saki in their arms so that she is easier to carry – a firefighter carry, if they remember right. Their father teaches them how to do this once, after an incident at their old school that results in one of their classmates fainting due to how severely sick she is at the time.

They aren’t friends with her. Not anymore.

He clears his throat, catching Yu’s attention, and they look back up towards Yosuke with big, wide eyes. “I just… want to stay here for a bit. Everything’s been happening all at once, and I just – I don’t know. I just want to stay here for a bit. Maybe learn something else.”

They step away from Yosuke and he turns away from them, his back looking small and his shoulders droop. Konishi Saki makes a soft noise in their arms, alerting them to the fact that she needs to be taken back, and Yu looks down at her then back up towards Yu. He is standing in the middle of the room, hands on his elbows and head bowed down. They should leave at this point. They have an unconscious woman in their arms. They need to…

“I’ll be with you guys in a minute. Just… wait for me, okay?” Yosuke says and Yu hesitates for a second, though they are tugged out by Teddie who seems more than anxious to leave this place. Yosuke stands in the store for a bit longer, waiting until the three of them are all gone, and listens for their footsteps and voices to fade further and further into the background. He pockets the card into his jacket pocket, then shoves both his hands into his uniform pant’s pockets. He kicks at a stray broken bottle near his foot, then rubs the back of his head with his hand after some time.

“Um.” he begins, wondering what he is doing here – Yu and Teddie are probably waiting for him outside. He should probably go back with them… but… “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” he says to no one, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you with your family problems. I’m sorry I only annoyed you. I’m just… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Saki. I’m so sorry. I should probably just say this to your face, but… I… I don’t know if I can.” he doesn’t know what else to say that isn’t just a repeat of ‘sorry’, but he doesn’t want to go yet. Doesn’t want to leave the store. Yu and Teddie may be getting worried by now, Saki may be safe now, but he… but…

_“I wish I could tell Yosuke one last thing before I got kidnapped.” _Saki’s voice rings out, though it isn’t as if she is speaking to him, responding to him. Yet despite this, Yosuke stiffens up and looks up towards the ceiling.

Kidnapped?

What is she saying?

It isn’t like he can ask. As he says before, this isn’t really like a response or anything like that. It… seems more like a continuation of a thought that she never gets to say before his shadow self appears.

_“I wish I could tell him that I hope he does what makes him happy, that he doesn’t let anyone take his opportunities away from him. Don’t let anyone hold you back. We all deserve better than to be held back by people who maybe don’t really care about us at all, or at least don’t understand us and who we are, or why we do the things that we do. And… I want to say that…_

_“I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.”_

His hands curl into tight fists. “We saved you,” Yosuke says to no one in particular, “we saved you. We saved you. There’s not going to be a goodbye, not this time. Not… not this time!”

“Are you okay?” Teddie asks when Yosuke steps out, taking in his bloodshot eyes and the tear stains on his face. Yu moves to ask something as well but Yosuke shakes his head, sniffs, and then asks for them to just go back home.

There isn’t much else to say after all that is said and done. “Will you promise, _promise _that you’ll come back and help me find the person who’s doing this?” Teddie says once he escorts them back to the main area. Yosuke is silent, contemplative, though he does give a minuscule nod to Teddie’s near-fearful question. “You promise? If – if you guys don’t promise to find the killer, I won’t let you guys out! Rrrrrr!”

“We promise to help you,” Yu says, their voice a bit strained from how long they are holding onto Saki. She is too heavy for them, especially after how exhausting this entire ordeal has been going. Yosuke just shrugs and looks away. “We’ll try to find out who is trying to disrupt your home like this.”

Satisfied, Teddie summons the TVs up again and kicks the three of them through it once more.

Chie, predictably, is standing on the other side… and looking extremely distressed. She almost wails when she sees them, though she does throw her arms around the both of them and tugs them close, trying to hug them while sobbing and berating them. “I got so – so – so … s.. sc… scaaaaaaared! The rope broke and I didn’t know what to do, and I – I… I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t know if I should jump in, or if jumping in was a good idea, and I couldn’t get help, and… and… and— oh my god, is – is that Saki-senpai? Is that – she’s … she’s okay? You – you did it? I… I… I don’t – I ‘m so mad! I’m so mad! But I’m happy! But I’m MAD!”

“I’m sorry.” Yosuke says. Chie slaps him anyway and then runs off, crying. Yu looks at Yosuke with worry as he nurses the red mark on his cheek, a wince on his face. “Man, that was… maybe not so uncalled for, but kinda uncalled for. I think we should go and properly apologise to her tomorrow. I feel like I’ve ran a marathon and back.”

They take Saki to the nearby clinic, call the police to let them know they find Konishi Saki, and then have to send Chisato a text that they won’t be able to come back home any time soon because of what is happening. She sends them back a text of extreme worry, asking, if they are going to be okay. Yu just gives her a quick reassurance and then puts their phone away the moment the police are at the clinic.

Adachi and Uchida are the ones who arrive on the scene, with them both showing their badges to the doctor who is currently monitoring and taking care of Saki. “Yu-san,” Uchida says, her voice professional even though she looks at them apologetically for a second, “I know it’s late, but do you mind answering some questions for us? We won’t take long.”

True to her word, the questioning takes less than half an hour to go through. They have to lie and say that they find Saki unconscious in the electronics department of Junes. If they remember correctly, Yosuke mentions – once in a conversation once thought unimportant – that the surveillance cameras in the electronics department doesn’t work, and that due to low traffic no one wants to fix it.

No matter what will happen there, they probably won’t fix the surveillance equipment either. Adachi crosses his arms and asks his own questions from time to time, though most of the questioning is done by Uchida. In the end, they both commend them on being a good Samaritan and bringing Saki in. “How do you know Konishi Saki?” Adachi asks as the final question.

“She was the senpai to my friends, Yosuke-san and Chie-san. She’s a university student now, but they both seem close to her still. I don’t really know her myself, but I found her and knew about her because of the two of them and the news, so I brought her in here.”

“Well,” Uchida says, “I think we’re done here. I can take you home –”

Adachi chirps in, interrupting her, “don’t worry about it. I’ll take Yu-kun home. That’s fine right, Yu-kun?”

They try not to sink into their seat as they say, very softly, “I would appreciate that, Adachi-san. Thank you.”

* * *

Chisato waits outside of her house for them, her hands intertwined together almost as if in prayer, and she is practically fidgeting in place. She almost rushes towards them when she sees Adachi’s police car and she immediately takes them into her arms, and Yu has to try and wriggle out to not be embarrassed in front of Adachi-san. He simply steps outside of the car and smiles at them with amusement clear in his eyes.

“Oh, Tohru-kun!” Chisato says with surprise clear in voice upon finally seeing him, letting go of Yu only to put her hand on their shoulder. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other again. It’s a shame that this is how we had to meet again, isn’t it?”

Adachi just waves it off, a smile on his face while he stares at Yu standing next to her. They want to look away. “Don’t worry about it, Dojima-chan.”

“You know you can always call me Chisato, right? You don’t have to be so formal with me.”

“I know, but it’s always cute how you ask me to call you by your name. Can’t I tease a good, old friend for old time’s sake?”

Chisato laughs. “Do you want to come over for some tea? You brought Yu-kun back home…”

“Nah, I have work to do. You take care, Chisato-chan. You too, Yu-kun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, okay?”

He drives off after that, waving goodbye and not letting Yu say anything before he leaves. They look down at Chisato who looks up at them with slight concern, and their heart hurts. They wish that they can tell her about what is going on in the TV world… but… should they? Their heart constricts. She looks at them, then away, chewing on her lower lip before she says, oddly slowly…

“Did you know you can tell Tamaki-chan anything?” she says carefully, distracted, “no matter how outlandish or out of the world it is, you can tell her absolutely anything and she’ll take you seriously. Now, let’s go home. You must be very tired, aren’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit:** This is an extremely important note. This chapter was rewritten near the half-way mark to ensure that _Konishi Saki lived._ In the original iteration of this chapter, she died like she did in the original canon. HOWEVER, after a bit of deliberation, I rewrote it so that she lived. This means that I have to go and rewrite other chapters - briefly - that indicate her dead. please give me time to do this.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit:** Rewritten to include a note about delivery.

Yosuke doesn’t come to school for at least a day or two after looking tired and sick, which drives Chie completely insane. Saki, as well, has to stay in the clinic for a little more to recover before she is allowed home. Chie demands to know what happens in the TV world and why it is that Yosuke seems so tired after she sees Yu, but they manage to convince her that it is best that they both wait for him to come back completely before they explain it to her. It is a blessing that she calms down _at all _after a long time of her needling them to answer all of her (frankly, valid) questions.

Explaining the encounter with Chie when she finally manages to grab them both after Yosuke comes back and drags them away is the hardest thing Yu has done thus far. Thankfully, they don’t have to explain themself to Yukiko as she has to excuse herself to go to the inn again because she has work to do. Yosuke doesn’t talk much, if at all, given how he fidgets and twiddles his fingers together – he keeps looking over at Yu instead, then over at Chie, and then flinching just to stay quiet and focus on everything but the girl before the two of them. Yu doesn’t want to say it aloud, but it is kind of exhausting having to be the one to explain everything.

It takes far too long to finish the explanation, too.. Chie keeps interjecting to deny their story and explanations, only to backtrack and remember the TV world and then proceed to ask more questions that Yu can feel their brain screaming at her for asking. They just want to look at anything but Chie, and the brightness of her eyes, and anything but Yosuke or the too dark shade of his hair and the way his eyes always look glassy and pale. They rub at their temples when Chie finally quiets down and Yu doesn’t have to say anything else anymore; they rub slow circles onto their skin, trying to get rid of the irritation, though they don’t even know why they are so irritated.

_‘Maybe because I didn’t sleep well?’ _they think sardonically at themself, _‘you always get like this when you don’t sleep early you big idiot!’ _they think again, lecturing themself as though they are an outsider staring in. How much they wish that their existence is just that – an outsider looking into something that isn’t actually happening to them. Personas? Demons? Demon Realm? Palaces?

_‘Please let this be another fast-food fuelled nightmare,’ _Yu thinks. But even then that doesn’t work as an excuse – they don’t really eat fast food, not when Chisato makes sure the kitchen is always stocked and she has a lot of different machines for different actions. One for steaming, grilling… two-in-ones – a lot of things. Cooking is far easier than back home, where Yu has to take longer to cook or prepare everything. Chisato seems to take a lot of pride in her kitchen from what Yu can assume, though she admits that she isn’t as good a cook as she looks.

“I just really like buying cooking gear,” Chisato admits to them when they loiter around the kitchen this morning, before breakfast, “I always hoped Ryoutarou would finally maybe cook something for himself or for us, surprise us one night or something like that.” she smiles, though it doesn’t reach her eyes as she does. She shrugs her shoulders, serves the food up, and then offers a plate to Yu as she says, “I’ll always miss him, but I have Nanako now.”

They don’t push her to talk about it any further, but they also end up respecting her even more than they do already. She is kinder than what Ryoutarou, from what Yu remembers of him, deserves. They never say it to her, of course – what kind of person will tell a still-grieving woman uninformed thoughts about her husband? They only really remember Ryoutarou being extremely awkward and gruff to them when they are a child, and nothing more. They can’t really say anything.

Those thoughts help distract them from the awkwardness of the situation right now. Chie and Yosuke don’t look at each other, with the former flushing a bright pink and the latter just looking a little too pale. Yu sits between them with a lovingly packed bento box in their hands, courtesy of Nanako-chan and Chisato together, and they look up at the sky and close their eyes.

_‘Will one of you two say something already!?’ _Yu thinks frantically, though the thing that slips out of their lips is, “Chie-san, Yosuke-san and I have been thinking about it for a while but… we’re sorry, for yesterday.” she looks at them in surprise. “We didn’t mean to scare you, but _he _thought that we would be able to get out with the rope.”

Yosuke flinches, “yikes, man. You don’t pull your punches, do you?” Yosuke murmurs under his breath and Yu immediately reaches up and pinches his cheek, hard. He yells like an overgrown man-child from the iron pinch of a Narukami – their family’s grip stronger than the heaviest boulders and longer lasting than the flu. “Okay! Okay – leggo! LEGGO!” the unclasp their iron grip on his soft, squishy cheek. He rubs at his reddening face with a grumble before he swallows, loudly, and says, “yeah… um. I – I’m sorry, Chie-chan. I really thought… I really thought I could find evidence on who did this to Saki-senpai down there. I just… I just thought…”

They feel a tug on their sleeve and they end up switching spots with Chie right after, sitting to her left while Yosuke sits to her right. She places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, gently. “Hey,” she begins gently, softly, her voice sweeter than they remember hearing it before, “I’m not mad at you. I know that she is important to you, and… I kind of overreacted too, I know. The only thing that matters now is that… you guys saved her. She’s safe. But I wish you just… waited a little more, I don’t know.”

She rubs his shoulder and Yosuke looks up at her with big, wide eyes. Yu shudders, feeling as though they are in a place they shouldn’t be – they are just a new student. They don’t know anything about the interpersonal relationships of the students here, of Yosuke and Saki and Chie, and… they look away.

“I’m really not mad, or anything, or upset or – or… I was just so worried for you, Yosuke!” Chie says, frustrated, and Yu shifts then grabs their chopsticks to begin eating – quietly, at least. “Do you know how scary it was for me? To see the rope just snap and – and I didn’t know if I should go in or not. I… I thought…”

“No, Chie- it’s okay. I get it. I get where you’re coming from. If I was in your spot… I’d probably freak out too – probably worse than you, haha. I’m… kind of a pussy that way.”

_‘Pussies are stronger and braver than you’ll ever be in your entire life, Yosuke.’ _Yu thinks to themself. Now is probably not the time for such a thought, though.

“Thanks for waiting for us, even though your family must’ve been super worried for you, huh?”

Chie doesn’t get the opportunity to say anything in response – nothing to comfort him, or to reassure him that she didn’t have much trouble. The bell goes off and Yu ruefully stares down at the bit of their lunch still left behind, but then decide to eat it after school is done. They hear that next week the clubs will be opening up, so they need to go and do some research before they go and eat. They want to join the basketball club, mostly because a cute –

Ahem.

Class first.

* * *

Today is just the same as the other day, sans of course traveling to some sort of demon realm and having to fight Yosuke’s shadow to make sure that they all don’t just die then and there. They do, every once in a while, think back to the shadow and its intent –

_“I am the real me!” _it claims, just the same as Yosuke does. During a downtime in history with Ms. Sofue, which is the last class of the day, they begin to write down theories as to what the shadows may want; do they want to be as really as Yosuke claims he is? Do they want to kill them and then just live their life down there?

If Yosuke has a shadow of his own demons and insecurities… then…

The last bell of the day rings and the room is taken up by the clattering roar of bags being packed and school necessities put away. Everyone begins chattering among themselves, ignoring Ms. Sofue even as she gives them a reminder for their homework due next week. It is when Yosuke is about to approach him that Ms. Sofue calls out to them, “Narukami-san, do you mind staying behind? I would like to talk to you.”

Yosuke looks at them curiously but he waves at them goodbye and tells them to send him a text when their talk with the teacher is done. They both watch him leave, with Ms. Sofue taking her Pharaoh helmet off and revealing her messy head of long, brown hair once he is gone and she smiles up at Yu. They close their bag and sling it onto their shoulder, approaching Ms. Sofue’s table while she sets the Egyptian staff onto it.

“Sofue-sensei,” they begin, “is there something wrong?”

She tucks a curly, helmet-ruined lock of hair behind her ear before she shakes her head and she stands up, heads over to the door and looks both ways, before she carefully closes it. “Do you remember Dr. Kurokawa?” she asks it quietly, carefully, as if trying to keep it a secret, and Yu’s eyes widen. She gives a small smile their way and Yu hunches their shoulders over. “I’m sorry if I worried you, Narukami-san.”

“Um, no, no. I just… yes, I remember Dr. Kurokawa – he… ah! He told me to seek you out, I’m sorry. The first week of school was so hectic…” she shakes her head and brings a hand up and they go quiet immediately. “If you don’t mind me asking,” they start, “but why did he recommend you to me?”

Ms. Sofue stands up straight – she is a short woman, shorter than Yu by at least ten centimetres, and her smile is sunshine bright and wide on her face, to the point that it looks almost far too big on her. She doesn’t have the same stern, strict face of the teacher in class, the one who picks students out just to test whether or not they read the material. Instead, a normal woman with a cheerful personality stands in front of them.

“Dr. Kurokawa told me of your circumstances,” she says and Yu’s heart sinks into their stomach. As though sensing their apprehension, Ms. Sofue immediately goes back into speaking, saying, “please, don’t think he told me because of no reason. Actually, I can understand how you feel – though, maybe not entirely with what you’re going through.”

Their eyes widen. Ms. Sofue’s face glows even brighter. “I… didn’t always look the way I did now,” she starts slowly, gently, and it immediately clicks in Yu’s mind what she means, “even though it’s… well, I don’t have to overload you with this, but you surely know where I’m going with this, correct?”

“I… I do.” they say, though their voice is still stuck in their throat. They grab the strap of their bag with both hands. “You won’t tell anyone else?” they ask in a soft, hushed whisper, scared and uncertain. The look in her eyes immediately changes to that of pain and upset, though Yu doesn’t want to pretend that they know _why. _“I’m sorry, I know that it’s probably ridiculous, I mean the school should know, but –”

“The only thing that I told the school was that you are an upstanding young man,” is what she says, “and Dr. Kurokawa was able to get a friend to convince the entire school that you are a boy. Though I… I am sorry that you have to be seen that way.”

Yu rubs at their eyes. She carries on speaking, “the only other person to know is Kondo-kun, though that is because I thought it was pertinent that he know and… well. He’s _also _like you and I.” Yu’s head jerks up in surprise, their brain rattling around in their skull. Ms. Sofue smiles slyly at them. “The two of us came here together after a meet-up, and well... we are together, now. It has been a few years. Maybe I’ll be a Kondo too, someday.”

The way her face brightens up and glows is so beautiful, so mesmerizing, that Yu feels something bloom deep within their heart. They lose the fight against the urge to place their hand on their chest, feeling the beating of their heart beneath their palm, and Ms. Sofue regards them warmly. “You have two friends in us here, Narukami-san,” she says, “of course we aren’t the same age as you, but… we’ll help you however best we can, and we’ll try to make your time here as safe as possible.”

Yu spends some more time talking to Ms. Sofue, though mostly because they want to ask her about her relationship with Mr. Kondo. They spend less than ten minutes, really, listening to Ms. Sofue before they apologetically excuse themself.

“Oh, before you go,” she says and stops Yu as they are about to turn away. She reaches into her bag, searching for something, and then brings a piece of paper out and hands it over to them, “Kondo-kun and I both agreed that this would be beneficial for you – it’s a centre for people like us.” she says, glancing briefly at the class door before back at Yu. “We both wrote down when they meet up and where it is, though it’s outside of Inaba. Will your aunt mind you going there? Does she know?”

They take the piece of paper and stare at it, at the address, phone number, and days with meeting times. They look at it and feel their heart constrict, tighten, and they swallow the lump in their throat down. “My – my parents and my auntie both know,” Yu says, “my mom and dad, they just… want me to be happy. They don’t – won’t mind. And my auntie would take me there herself if she thinks it’ll help me.”

Ms. Sofue’s gaze causes their eyes to gloss over with tears. She reaches over to them, her hands hovering uncertainly above them, and Yu sniffles before wrapping their arms around her and burying their face into her shoulder and _crying. _She holds them gently, even though it must be uncomfortable, and they hiccup apologies in her shoulder.

It takes very little time before Yu forces themself back and they rub their eyes with the back of their hand. They fold the piece of paper up carefully and put it in the middle of their notebook to make sure it stays flat and untouched. They look at Ms. Sofue once more, looking at her with a bit of wonder, before they say, “thank you, Sofue-sensei.”

“Soooo, what’d you get in trouble for?” Yosuke asks when they meet up again, his voice far more weaselly than Yu is comfortable with. They press the flat of their palm against his face and push him back. “Whoa-ho!”

“It’s none of your business.” Yu says, bluntly. Yosuke rolls his eyes but lets it go, thankfully, before he starts talking about literally nothing that Yu understands. Kamen Rider? Super Sentai? Isn’t Super Sentai what Nanako watches? Maybe they can introduce Yu to their precious cousin and they can be friends and they can both talk about Super Sentai.

Seriously, what the fuck?

* * *

After that mess with Junes, Chie forcefully demands them to give her their contact info while they all hang out together and they do – she promises them that she will text them more often, but Yu just waves at her until she leaves them alone. It has been raining pretty heavily lately, so the less time they spend out in the open the happier they are. A chill winds runs through them, stroking their skin and leaving goose pimples behind in its wake.

They rub at the back of their neck once Chie disappears into the mist of pouring rain, an apparition fading away from their vision. _‘What’s the point in thinking like that?’ _Yu asks themself as they head back into the Dojima residence.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome home!” Chisato calls out at the same time that Nanako yells “welcome home, cousin!” and Yu bows their head down to hide their smile. They push in to find Chisato sitting with Nanako on her lap in the living room, watching television together. She looks over her shoulder to peer up at Yu and her face glows. “Were you out with your friends?” Chisato asks and Yu nods her head.

Nanako bounces on Chisato’s lap and she wraps her arms around her daughter’s midsection, hugging her gently while she gets excited over the tokusatsu on TV. “I’m glad you’ve made friends so quickly, Yu-chan.” she says while trying to focus on both her daughter and nibling, and Yu tries not to smile too widely.

“They found me, auntie.” Yu tells her, “they came to me and now I’m their friend, I guess.” they make sure not to mention the fact that they also have super powers now, or something. “Do we have dinner ready?”

“Yes, we do. It should still be on the stove – Nanako and I already ate.”

They sit down to watch television with Nanako and Chisato once they finish eating up and they watch as auntie asks permission to watch the news briefly. A quick report is given on Konishi Saki being found again though thanks to Tamaki promising them some time ago that they won’t be mentioned her saviour remains anonymous.

The channel switches over to what seems to be an interview going on about the Amagi inn after the report on Saki’s safe return – reporters catch wind of the fake that Yamano Mayumi stays there the night before her murder, and now the inn is unfortunately being hounded and harassed for interviews.

One such person who seems to be unable to escape the interviewing is Yukiko, who edges away uncomfortably every time the male reporter gets too close to her. _“You’re going to be taking over soon, right!? When your mother steps down, you’ll be the next manager! One beauty after the other, huh?”_

_“Um, it’s not… I don’t have the training for it, and I have school and…”_

_“You would have so many people lining up for you once you take over. How much do you wanna bet that people’ll only stay over for you?”_

_“I – I hope that it’s for…”_

_“Maybe you’d even find a husband that way… if a high school sweetheart hasn’t—” _Chisato turns the channel back to the one Nanaki has been watching and she lets out a tsk of disappointment.

“That poor girl… I wish they’d just leave her alone.” Chisato says, before she then hugs Nanako protectively and glances over at Yu with barely-concealed concern.

What can Yu say? Absolutely nothing. Absolutely, utterly nothing.

They go to bed some time after that, though sleep eludes them. They can’t seem to drift off, their mind focusing far too heavily on everything but sleeping, and they finally relent and set up an alarm to wake them up at midnight – three hours away from now – to try and sate their curiosity. The rain refuses to let up, droplets pounding against their wounds in frantic pelts. They finally fall into a gentle, lulling sleep.

The three hours go by too quickly and Yu almost falls back asleep when their alarm goes off. To try and not wake Nanako up, they turn it off quick and force themself to sit up. Outside, rain continues on. Yu looks over to their TV, their gaze bleary… but their vision clears up when the Midnight Channel begins to play – like clockwork.

A girl stands there… one who they recognise far too easily, and Yu’s eyes widen.

_‘Yukiko-san?’ _

She is in her school uniform, though her gaze is extremely vacant, and there seems to be a mannequin with some sort of ruined dress standing behind her. Her eyes are as golden as Shadow Yosuke’s, though her expression is as still as an unbothered lake as she stares forward and through Yu, as though she really can see them.

**“Is anybody out there?”** Yukiko asks, her voice being dragged away by the wind**, “is the world really as good as people make it out to be, or is it only good for people who aren’t like me?”**

The television turns off.

* * *

Chie practically slams into them first thing in the morning and Yu ends up tripping and falling on their face in front of the school gates, much to her growing horror and every other student just staring at the two of them with confusion and blank disinterest. A teacher nearby comes up to Yu and then takes them away to the nurse’s room to wipe the blood away from their face and put some bandages on.

“I’m so sorry,” Chie cries out after following them into the nurse’s room, though Yu just stares at her blankly and waits for her to continue talking, “I – I just – I just… I watched the Midnight Channel last night, okay!” she bursts out once the teacher leaves them be and reminds them to get to class on time, “I saw Yukiko! I – I couldn’t be too sure because I couldn’t hear her voice, but it was Yukiko! It looked like her! It _had _to be her!”

“Can we talk about it after class?” Yu asks. Chie goes quiet. “I really don’t want to be late for class.” they emphasize and Chie flinches but relents.

King Moron does a double-take upon seeing their face and when he demands to know what happens Yu answers honestly. Chie looks like she is about ready to die, but King Moron just looks more bemused that Chie apparently pushes them hard enough to scrape their face. He lets them go, though he glances at Yu with a gaze that they can’t seem to recognise. Something uncomfortable crawls under their skin and festers like an iron-grip around their heart.

They don’t say anything. They just want class to go on as normal.

* * *

Yukiko isn’t around for lunch and only appears for class then disappears immediately after class is done. Chie calls Yukiko’s phone, then the Amagi inn, just to ask if she is around. She almost hyperventilates when she gets confirmation that Yukiko is just out on an errand and Yosuke stares at her like she has grown two heads then looks over at Yu.

He stares more at the bandages on Yu’s face, the one they haven’t removed yet, and they shrug loudly and widely when Yosuke just stares.

“What’s the matter with you?” Yosuke asks Chie, finally, and she almost throws her phone at his face and causes even more bodily harm than she has today. Yu manages to catch the phone as it is being thrown, though they have no clue how. Yosuke stares at their hand, then up at Chie, then back down, then up again, and he lets out a sound not too dissimilar from an angry goose. “What the Hell was that, Chie-chan! Are you for REAL!”

“I’m sorry!” she squawks out indignantly, “I just – I lost my grip, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Yukiko, and I get scared and… and… I was so worried, okay! She appeared on the Midnight Channel! And the last two people who appeared on the Midnight Channel, they… they…”

Yosuke’s expression is quick to turn grim as Chie stutters and stumbles over herself and Yu plays with their sleeves, their eyes roaming around everywhere but on those two. If their hair is longer then they can twirl strands around their fingers to try and distract themself from the heaviness of Chie’s admission, though they try to ignore the way their heart pangs at the thought.

She exhales heavily and clutches her phone to her chest after she takes it back from Yu, her grip trembling as she says, “I’m so scared. I’m so, so scared. I don’t want anything to happen to Yukiko. I can’t. I… I lo…” she whispers, though she never finishes the word and instead aborts the sentence to start a new one, “I can’t leave her behind. I care for her too much for that.”

They blink as they are only barely able to hear the original sentence due to sitting closer to her, and they rub their left index and thumb on their inner right sleeve. _‘Why not just say love…?’ _they think, but they keep that comment hidden and buried away so that no one hears it.

“We can’t let anything happen to her! We can’t… I can’t… I just – I can’t let it. I can’t let her be hurt, I can’t…”

“She’s been at the inn a lot lately, right?” Yosuke says, “and she’s surrounded by her family and the people who work there with her. If anything comes after her, she won’t be alone. She’ll be okay, right?”

Chie is silent for a bit, but her eyes are quick to gloss over with unshed tears and she opens her mouth only for nothing to come out. She swallows around the lump in her throat and then lets out a sob. Yosuke, sighing, puts a hand on her shoulder and then steers her away. “Hey, Yu-kun, I’ll take Chie-chan back home now. You can leave without us, okay?”

“Are you sure I can’t help?” Yu says, but Yosuke just looks at them warily and then down at Chie, who looks at them with the most apologetic look she can muster while trying not to cry any further. She hiccups something out, something that has to do with the TV world, and they look back up at Yosuke who just looks a bit pained. “… maybe I can help after. Take care, Chie-san, Yosuke-san.”

They turn away so that they won’t have to see those faces anymore.

_‘I’m an idiot.’_

* * *

On the way back, Yu decides to stop by the river just to look at it for a bit before heading back home. The scent of rain fills the air and, soon after, the sky is overtaken by heavy, grey clouds. Though they have their umbrella with them, they look to their left and stop, peering at the gazebo there, then jolt in surprise when they recognise the face of the girl sitting there.

They jog up to the gazebo, wet dirt squishing underneath their feet as they make their way up to the girl sitting there, and she seems especially surprised to see them there.

“Yu-kun?” Yukiko’s voice, soft and sweet, asks, and Yu stops and stares, wondering why it is that they are just standing there. They shuffle their feet while Yukiko stares right through them, a plastic bag on her lap and her usual red jacket and school outfit is exchanged out for a pink kimono with white flower patterns. “Aren’t Chie and Yosuke-kun with you?”

They try not to slouch too much and keep at least an arm’s length away from Yukiko as they sit down on the bench with her, “ah… no, I’m sorry. Were you hoping to see Chie-san?” they say while embarrassment burns the tips of their ears. “I didn’t expect to see you here, to be honest, so… um. I can call them and tell them you’re here?”

Yukiko pauses, turning the words over before she shakes her head. “No, it’s fine. I have to go back to the inn soon, anyway, so it isn’t like I can hang out with them. We have a delivery coming by soon, supposedly.” she looks up at the rainy, cloud sky and Yu looks away from them to stare down at their own bag. “The rain’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Yukiko asks out of nowhere and Yu is left floundering to respond, but she continues on without them, “when I look up at the sky, where the sun should be and see dark clouds… it feels like all my negativity is being washed away before I can see the sunlight again.”

They look down. “I didn’t know you felt that way about the rain.” they say.

She hums, her gaze still focusing on the outside rather than on Yu. “I wonder what the world outside of Inaba is like,”

_“Is the world really as good as people make it out to be?”_

“And I wonder if I have a place there.”

_“Or is it only good for people who aren’t like me?”_

Yu rubs the back of their head, ruffling their short hair as they say, “I think you have a place there, just like how I have a place out there. I think those who mean no harm to the rest of society definitely have a place in the world out there.”

She looks over at them with an indecipherable expression on her face, the visage of a person disconnecting herself from the words that are meant to be of comfort, and Yu looks down at their own lap.

“I heard you found out where Saki-senpai was from Yosuke-kun and Chie,” she says gently, her voice still as serene as when she speaks earlier, “thank you. I know how important she was to them, even if I didn’t know her that well.”

“You didn’t?” Yu asks.

Yukiko shakes her head. “I never needed help with any of my subjects, not really, and the ones I did need help with I asked a different senpai. Saki-senpai became friends with Yosuke-kun and Chie because of how nice she was. I would’ve been heartbroken if she was never found.”

“Oh,” Yu says, “I see. I’m glad to have helped.”

They sit in awkward silence for a while, watching the rain fall. The sound is comforting, though it cannot pierce through the awkwardness that takes over. They continue to stare ahead, hoping to think of something – anything – to say to start a conversation. In the end, neither of them say anything.

It feels...

“I have to go now,” Yukiko says once the rain lets up, “I’ll see you at school again, Yu-kun.”


	8. Chapter 7

Yukiko isn’t at school today. Not as in she isn’t at lunch or anything like that – she is just, in general, not at school today. Chie goes into a frenzy about it, looking hysterical and restless and Yu feels sorry for her, they genuinely do. Yosuke looks at Chie with worry written all over his face and he almost chews a hole through his lower lip as he watches her. Yu is left wondering how they can help either of them, especially if they are thinking the same thing that they are thinking.

Yu wants to assume it is because she is busy at the inn that Yukiko isn’t around. Yet when lunch comes by, Chie desperately calls her when able, calls the inn, the household, and then goes immediately pale at the answer that she gets. She clicks her phone shut after managing to force out some polite sounding farewells, looking visibly shaken up.

They can tell what this means almost immediately: that means they have to go to the TV world, especially with how expectantly Yosuke looks at them. They are so, so very tired. They rub their eyes with the heel of their palm and try not to make it super obvious how tired they are right now.

“Do you really think she fell into the television?” Yu asks while they are walking on the way to Junes, with Yosuke and Chie trailing after them, and both of them look at them like they are spouting a third head. Yu shrugs, uselessly, trying not to seem too disinterested – the truth is, they really rather hope it be something like ‘oh she just ran away from home and came back the other day’, but the Midnight Channel shows what the Midnight Channel shows.

Every other time, every other person appearing on the Midnight Channel generally means that they fall into the TV. It gives them a moment to think, perhaps ponder – for a bit too long, maybe – why it is that that world exists. A nebulous world where a walking, mascot teddy bear lives and speaks, talking about demons and worlds and demon realms and all other things that are seemingly impossible.

It makes them think, immediately, that they just want to go back to the city and live out the rest of their lives not knowing what the Midnight Channel is, nor why that world exists. Demons aren’t real, or at least they shouldn’t be real, and Yu tries not to close their eyes and sigh while Chie and Yosuke are arguing about nothing all that important. Chie sounds almost hysterical as she argues about movies or what have you, her voice wobbling with an emotion so fake that it makes them think of a plastic wall.

Junes’ electronics department is, once again, as empty as empty can be; Yosuke stops to let them all know that the store isn’t interested in discounting them any time soon, especially given that he claims all of the televisions here are extremely expensive and thus it will be a bad business move… or something. Yu really doesn’t know anything about business, or economy, or selling stuff. They don’t think they will know any time soon, either. Yosuke, however, speaks coolly and easily about it, spitting off line after line about some sort of business or whatever.

Yu thinks that when he grows up and graduates from university that he will make for a fine business man, or so they hope anyway. He doesn’t seem that disinterested in what he is talking about, he just doesn’t want to work at his parents’ place and be named as the Prince of Junes. The whole princess or prince title… they flinch thinking about it. Chie asks them if something is wrong and Yu tries not to sound affronted when they say they are fine.

“Okay, if you say so.” Chie says at the time, eyeing them curiously as though they are man made of fire and not a person made of flesh and bone. They don’t look her in the eyes when she stares at them, waiting for some sort of follow-up for their ‘weird’ behaviour.

Getting to the TV doesn’t really take that long. No one is around, as they note before, and Yosuke looks around once more just as a precaution then nods definitively. “Okay, so just like before. Let’s go in, and see if we can find Teddie. If the TV goes to the same place every single time, which of the two times we fell in it did, then it should be a piece of cake.”

“Okay, so what are we going to do from there?” Yu asks.

“No time to explain!” Chie yells, then immediately roundhouse kicks them into the television before either one of them can get a word in edge wise.

It is a head first tumble through a weird, swirling vortex, and Yu is going to be surprised if after they get out their nose isn’t flattened or broken. They roll after before Yosuke falls onto their spine and potentially shattering it, thus either paralyzing them or just killing them forever. Chie shrieks as she falls in after, presumably throwing herself in, and Yu is luckily able to stand and drag Yosuke away before she lands on him and then kills him, too.

This is not going to be a great time if they have to keep doing this song and dance whenever they try to get in.

“Maybe we should just take a step in, next time.” Yu suggests, “I don’t want to keep playing a flesh maze tango just to have to keep us all from breaking our spines every time we enter the TV world.”

Chie laughs sheepishly and then looks away. Yosuke glares at her for as long as humanly possible, making her shrink further and further, and Yu opens their mouth to say something only for a blue and red blur to start running up to them at a speed… kind of pathetic. “Senseeeeeeeeeeeei!” the high-pitched, boyish voice calls out and Chie’s eyes bug out of her head when she sees Teddie barreling towards them.

It takes a long bout of explaining, which is followed up by Chie slowly edging towards Teddie and then giving him a shove. “Wehhh!” he calls out as he falls, helplessly, onto his back, and starts flailing. “H- help! I’ve been incapacitated! Help meeeeee!”

Teddie is a startlingly pathetic demon. Yu helps him come to a stand and then proceeds to explain the situation to him before either Yosuke or Chie can butt in and ask him unnecessary questions that will get him talking and rambling. “… and that is what’s happening,” Yu finishes off and Teddie curls a paw underneath his ‘chin’, eyes squinting in thought in a way that no mascot suit is capable of. “Do you know if anyone fell into the TV world recently? You said you could tell before.”

“Hmm… well… Sensei, I normally can tell when people fall into the world, you’re right.” he clasps his paws behind himself, standing up straight and trying to look as tall and as professional as possible, even though the only thing that it serves to make him look like is a child trying to seem older than they really are. “Whenever someone falls in, everyone in the world here knows it. Even I know it, of course. I’m a demon, too, after all.”

Demon.

They think about it before but... He really is a demon, isn’t he? But he seems so friendly… nothing at all like the ones they face in Konishi Saki’s palace.

“Did he just say demon? He’s a demon? Demons? Demons are real?” Chie babbles out, despite Yu explaining demons to her already. It still is a lot to rather chew and swallow, Yu admits. Yosuke, however, has much less patience than they do and seem to be a second away from berating Chie for not listening but manages to actually exert some self-control.

Teddie, much to his credit, only twitches his ears, looks at Chie, and then looks back at Yu and continues talking. “I can smell ‘em out too, though. The other demons just have to look around for the palaces, whereas I know where they’ll be because I can sniff ‘em out.” Teddie bounces back and forth, his smile widening on his face. “Pretty great, right? Right?”

He really does remind them of a kid – maybe someone only a tiny bit older than Nanako, perhaps by a year and some months. Yu gently pats and rubs his head. “Yes, it’s pretty great.” they say gently and Teddie beams. They remove their hand and say, “do you think you can tell me if anyone’s fallen here recently?”

Teddie’s expression goes… angry in an attempt to look serious, they assume, and then he points his nose up in the air and begins sniffing. He harumpfs and hrnfs until, finally, he lets out a loud ‘aha!’ and then points upwards. “I smell something! I mean, yes, someone definitely not of this world fell in here, but I also know where they are!”

“Lead us to her!” Chie demands, “right now! Take me to where Yukiko is, _right NOW!”_

* * *

The arrival to Yukiko’s palace is marked, by… well… the appearance of Yukiko. She stands at the entryway to the palace, which stands tall and imposing with its archaic, gothic structure. It makes them think, briefly, of an Edgar Allen Poe poem – one that they try to read in English as practice, and then give up on almost entirely because they simply do not understand anything that the text says.

Reds and blacks swirl around the background of the castle, pulsing almost noticeably like a dying, throbbing heart – twisted and mangled with parasites and rot, pumping out decaying blood mixing with pus. A dark facsimile of a sun glows starkly against the throbbing sky - a flat, round thing that gives off no warmth, though they know not if it is the reason as to why this place is so cold. Mist surrounds them but the sky is clear, the tendrils crawling around like an addict's smoke that refuses to dissipate and fade out into the open air. The stench is teetering on the edge of rancid, a smell that curls their stomachs but isn't enough to force them to vomit, and crumble.

Amidst the unpleasant environment and the rancid atmosphere, with fog stroking and caressing them almost jeeringly, stands a girl. Their heart drops into the pits of their belly, disconnecting from the aortas, arteries and veins that keep it up. Blood pools within their stomach. The girl before them is familiar.

As the group gets closer, however, the truth is - unfortunately - revealed to them all. The Yukiko that stands before them is, immediately, obviously not the real one – before them she stands, back-straight and expression in an impressive poker face, nothing like the polite mask she dons on at school, nor the corruption of anxiety upon her pale face. She wears a pink, tattered, and old princess’ dress, caked in mud and dirt with holes strewn about in a once magnificent gown. that stops just above her ankles. Her hair is long, flat, almost as if soaked in water, and falls in curtains around her head and casts shadows about her sickly pallor. Her shoes are clearly once heels, yet they are now broken and ruined. What looks almost to be mold paints the tip of her faded pink shoes.

She stands before them, with empty expression, and stares at the group with her sickly, rotten, yellow gaze, and says, **“why are you all here?” **unlike with the shadow Yosuke who speaks in malicious tones and an endless sneer and ugly cackle, the one who stands before them speaks almost blandly - voice dull thanks to her droning intonation, a singer with no skill and a dancer with twisted ankles. 

What stands before them is nothing but an abandoned doll.

Chie is the one who takes a bold step forward, all bravado immediately draining away, however, once she opens her mouth. Her lips remain parted, catching flies for half a second, and then she quickly snaps them shut, her words tumbling back into her throat to choke her with her own cowardice. The words she prepares remain stuck within her trachea, words she desperately wishes to utter towards this illusory visage. She opens and closes her mouth several times then swallows, audibly, to the point that the sound echoes and bounces in Yu’s head, giving to them a throbbing, frontal headache.

The shadow Yukiko continues on, undeterred by the stupor Chie finds herself in, **“are you here to save me? Then let me make it clear: you can’t save me. None of you can.” **she says, so certain of herself, and she stares up into the milky, pulsating sky. **“You can’t, and you won’t. You won’t even listen to me. Neither you, nor Yosuke… why won’t you listen to me?”**

“What?” Yosuke squawks out in indignant surprise near immediately upon mention of his name. At the sound of his voice, Yukiko turns around… and runs into the palace, her frayed dress flowing almost beautifully with her pace, making her seem more like a ghostly bride separated from her fiancée than the fake, unwanted form of a girl unfortunate.

“Wait! Yukiko!” Chie cries out and runs forward, arm stretching out while she sprints right into the palace and leaves Yosuke and Yu behind in the dust. “Wait! Hold on! _Hold on! _What do you mean? YUKIKO!” her voice echoes and fades the further she runs into the ghastly castle and all three of them look at one another in alarm before they rush in after her.

Yosuke curses and says, “I told her not to run off on her own! I told her it’s dangerous! Why didn’t she listen!?”

_‘Do you have room to talk?’ _Yu thinks warily and they follow along… until something catches the corner of their eye and they immediately grab Yosuke’s elbow, yanking him back and almost on his ass. “Do you see that?” they ask when Yosuke whirls around to look at them and then at where they are pointing, eyes widening at the dusty corner.

An old, worn sword rests against the wall, looking sturdy enough for a few more fights before it shatters completely, and beneath it sits worn, dual pairs of daggers that are just as frail looking as the sword. Teddie is the one who grabs them and distributes it over to them, remarking that these may be the results of the palace. “You’re probably going to have to go back and get stronger ones.” he says cheerfully, oblivious to him being captain obvious.

“It’s better than nothing.” Yosuke says sourly and Yu can’t help but be inclined to agree towards that statement. Definitely better than nothing.

* * *

Teddie stays behind, always hiding nearby so that he may guide them through fights instead of directly being in them. He is a surprisingly capable navigator and a good cartographer, as the two of them come to realise. He traces out and draws their steps and manages to make a comprehensible lay out of the floor while Yosuke and Yu all blaze through the different demons, most of whom look like different varieties of slime that seem incapable of human speech.

It is when they run into an odd, pink fairy creature with very curvaceous and blocky hair and huge, bubbles for wings that Teddie grabs at Yu’s shirt and yanks them back. “Wait!” he yells out, catching the attention of everyone, including the fairy-thing. “Try talking to her!”

“What?” Yu asks, but when Teddie insists they relent and turn towards the fairy creature who stares back at them blankly. They stare at one another, back and forth, until Yu feels themself blush with embarrassment and further humiliation as their staring match continues. Yosuke and Teddie’s gazes burn into their body, embarrassing them further.

Unsurprisingly, the fairy creature is the one who breaks the ice, “you’re nothing at all like the previous summoners and hunters, are you?” she asks and Yu stares at her, uncomprehendingly. She sighs, as if talking to them is an ordeal – which, they don’t doubt that sentiment. “I’m Napaea, a fairy demon?” she says, “there’s more like me, y’know. They’ll all probably react nicely to you if they know you have me with you.”

“You’ll… join me?” Yu asks, their voice pitching up and then cracking. They clear their throat. Napaea looks to be one second away from bursting into laughter at that. “Why are you going to join me…?”

She shrugs. “That’s how it goes. You weird people show up with your super unique demons, or creatures, or whatever you wanna call them – Personas? It’s so weird. You guys show up, then you guys either have to fight us or you try and negotiate your way out of this. I’ve heard of your kind from Sumaru city,” she says, and Yu fights back the niggling sensation that they have heard of that place somewhere, “and you look greener than a field, so I’m deciding to be nice.”

“Oh.” Yu says, dumbly. “Um. Thank you, I didn’t expect that.”

Napaea nods and then sharply says, “good. You shouldn’t. Other demons’ll be harder to negotiate than I am. You’re lucky I’m curious. Anyway, I’m Fairy Napaea. Nice to meet you.” she places her hands upon her chest, bows her head down… and all three of them watch in surprise as her body glows bright white, blinding them all briefly before she disappears into a spinning card version of herself.

Yu looks over at Teddie, then at Yosuke, and then grabs the card.

“I think she’s going to help us now?” Yu says, with a big fat question mark at the end. They hold onto the card for a bit longer and then end up squeaking when the card actually disappears up into the ether. They stare at their hand for a bit longer. They all don’t end up lingering on it for long as they have to worry about Chie, so whatever that happens to Yu is a question that they sweep away for another time.

It is when they find the stairs leading up to the second floor (“I’ve mapped every single crevice out here,” Teddie claims, “so we shouldn’t get lost if we have to come back here again.”) that they hear voices again – and not just any voices, but Chie and Yukiko’s, though there seems to be two versions of the latter speaking and the former just seems so… very lost.

“Let’s go in.” Yosuke says, his gaze burning bright with determination – though exhaustion laps at the embers, trying to ebb the flame of bravery, and Yu grimaces. _‘He must be getting tired,’ _Yu thinks while they let Yosuke take the lead, following cautiously behind him while Teddie waddles after the two of them.

Double-doors greet them… and right next to it is a gentle, fluttering butterfly – blue and unique, with wings that seem to curve and shape in ways they have not seen. It reminds them of a moth, almost – those very large moths that are found deep in Australia, though yet the wings are thinner and more akin to that of a butterfly. Its ‘tail’, as well, is much longer than any other butterfly or moth they have ever seen.

They stare at the butterfly for far too long, though Yosuke snaps out at them to ‘stop staring at that butterfly, Chie-chan is right there!’ and Yu has to struggle to tear their gaze away from the comforting presence to focus, instead, on the way Yosuke is trying to psyche himself up before the double-doors, muffled voices and conversations happening far beyond the imposingly tall wooden blockades.

Yosuke presses his hands against the double-doors, pushing just enough to have the doors swing inwards and reveal to them the scene before them: Chie stands before the shadow Yukiko in the ruined, tattered dress while the real Yukiko, still in her pink work kimono, stands near the door on the other end.

She refuses to look up anyone, her gaze vacant and eyes bloodshot red; she nibbles on her wobbling, lower lip while she is deep in thought, her hand gripping the front of her kimono tightly. In contrast, the shadow Yukiko’s expression is blank, motionless, and her voice is deadpan and lifeless as she says, **“I keep talking, but you won’t listen.”**

“I don’t know what you want me to listen to! You're not making sense!” Chie yells out, distressed. “I just want to help you! I want to save Yukiko and get her home before she dies here!”

**“… is that what you really want.” **shadow Yukiko continues saying, unimpressed, and she turns around once more. **“I think you’re a big, fat liar who just doesn’t see it. I don’t get the me who cares for you.” **she walks up to the quiet, real Yukiko, grabs at her wrist, and then runs off again, dragging the real one away through the door on the other end of the small room.

Chie yells, running forward only to come to a stop when the door slams shut and its lock clicks, the sound echoing endlessly in the room. “Wait. WAIT!” Chie screams, “Yukiko! Yukiko, why won’t you – why didn’t you say anything! I understand you! I understand you more than I understand anyone else in the world!”

Cruel, bitter laughter fills up the room; the voice is warped, distorted and ruined by the world around them, and yet it is unmistakable. It is not Yukiko’s shadow who speaks, but the shadow of someone else entirely… the shadow of the only other person who has yet to get a persona. To the left, a swirling portal takes up a small, human-sized chunk of the air and from it steps out the other Chie – the shadow – in a ruined, stained white suit. Though she wears a suit, she wears her iconic bright, green jacket over the suit jacket; similar to that of shadow Yukiko’s dress, her jacket is ruined, destroyed and holes take up a decent amount of it, dirt and mud staining the once energetic green.

It frays at the ends, looking as though it has been worn non-stop for years and years and never once taken for repairs. She wears her sneakers as well; just as worn and as faded as her jacket, and contrasting with the suit.

**“You? You really think you want to save her?” **the shadow Chie jabs her thumb over her shoulder while a sneer overtakes her expression, a look so unfamiliar to the actual Chie that Yu flinches. **“You? Want to save her? As if! You just want to feel important, like you always do,” **she sighs then crosses her arms, her feet dragging as she saunters over to the real Chie, **“you’ve always been like that. Not the pretty one, ne~ve~r the pretty one! It’s always Yukiko, but she’s so fucking stupid that she can’t realise how lucky she has it - she has her future ready for her, boys crying for her, and all the grades in the world. I wonder if she's having fun playing Ms. Hard-To-Get?”**

Chie cries out, stumbling back a little and almost immediately she slams her hands onto her ears, “no, no, no, I’ve never – I’ve never thought of her like that! I’ve never seen her like that!” the distress causes her voice to pitch up high, higher than they have ever heard it… and Yosuke seems taken aback by it too, his eyes growing wide and face losing all colour. It slips their mind, for a brief second, that this is going a dangerous direction.

“She’s always so annoyed, she always hates it – she… she… she doesn’t like it when boys flirt with her, and I just – I… I!”

**“And you! Are! Jealous!” **the shadow says while she stalks forward and throws her arms out to the sides, the sneer twisting into a grin wicked enough to make Yu feel slimy. **“You’re jealous! You’re jealous of the fact that Yukiko always gets all the boys! Its always her! They always want her! And its NEVER you!”**

“Stop, stop, stop, stop!” Chie shrieks.

**“No one will ever see you as a girl. No one wants to see you as a girl anyway, because you aren’t girly enough to be seen as a girl! You're rude, crude, loud, boisterous, arrogant, and you keep hitting other boys! You can't cook, can't clean... you're not even smart or elegant! You're not beautiful, you're not cute! You're so average, it's funny! No boy wants you!”**

Chie lets out a loud wail, her eyes growing glossy as she takes steps back from the shadow that slinks ever closer. “STOP! I don’t care about that! I care about Yukiko! I – I care for her so much, I care for her a lot! I want her to be safe! I don’t care about any of this! She knows this, she knows, she knows…” Chie curls up into herself then, her hands clawing up to her hair and strands of them all wrap around her fingers that tug and pull.

In a way, though Yu doesn’t want to admit it, Chie makes for an extremely pathetic sight like that. None of them can speak, nor do they want to – the tension in the air is so heavy, hanging though look an executioner’s axe or noose, waiting to kill them all, that no one can find the courage to break through it.

The shadow takes another step towards Chie. **“Are you sure?” **she asks, her expression oddly serene and blank now, all mockery gone, **“is that what you really think? Or are you just lying to yourself about what you really feel?” **

Chie freezes.

Slowly, her head raises so that she may stare up into the sickly yellow gaze of the shadow before her.

**“Or is it that you’re jealous of –”**

The dam breaks and Chie screams, loud and upset, voice hiking up even further, as she shrieks out, _“YOU’RE WRONG! YOU’RE WRONG! YOU’RE NOT ME, YOU’RE NOT ME, YOU’RE WRONG!”_

Laughter fills the room up once more and Chie chokes and gags, gasping, then falls forward as darkness takes over her.

“Wait,” Yosuke calls out, “fuck! Fuck! We just stood by and did nothing! I did – I did _NOTHING_!”

**“I am the shadow! I’m the true self! Not the fake before me who refuses to see herself as who she is!” **the shadow Chie calls out as darkness surrounds her, engulfing her in a purple haze that clears to reveal an odd, caterpillar-like creature wearing some sort of samurai helmet. **“Look upon me, and despair!”**

Teddie yips and runs off to try and hide, shivering, and Yu looks over to Yosuke. “We have to fight,” Yu says, their voice heavy with guilt, “we have to, if we want to save Chie-san.”

* * *

The fight is just as intense and as confusing as the one against shadow Yosuke, though this time they have Yosuke’s Jiraiya to aide them with the fight. They find it fortunate that Jiraiya seems to be perfect for this sort of combat and they feel a bit of shame when they realise that their Izanagi is useless.

However, the fight is also surprisingly edifying; the fairy-creature from before, Napaea, is able to take the place of Izanagi and fight for them – though they mostly use her for aiding and assisting than for actual combat. When they ask if Yosuke can summon her, he admits to them that he cannot, though not from a lack of trying, just before he weaves away from a harsh blow from the caterpillar-shadow.

Though it appears to be slow, the strikes come faster than they expect and when they hit they hit _hard. _Thankfully, their personas (or sometimes demon in Yu’s case) seem to take the hit, but even then they can feel resonances of it. It is a constant dance of going back and forth before they finally manage to corner it and it is up to them both to land the finishing blow on the caterpillar-shadow before it ends them.

Their weapons break just as they subdue the shadow Chie and get the real one to wake up slowly, dragging her away from the void that the shadow drags her into. “Are you okay?” Yu asks as they immediately snatch their hand away from Chie after helping her stand. “We were worried for you,” they continue on, trying to coax her to speak, and they swallow the lump in their throat before they say, “don’t run off like that.”

“… that… that thing,” Chie says weakly, her voice hoarse from all her screaming, and Yosuke tenses up in alarm, “that thing… really was me, wasn’t it?”

Yosuke flusters a bit, mouth opening and closing before he says, “well, um. No. It’s – uh, it’s kind of like the parts of you that…” it takes him some time to explain it all to her, to which Chie’s expression changes uncomfortably and looks so very odd. “… so in short, it’s not really you, but it’s also not not-you. Do you know what I mean? I don’t think I’m making a lot of sense. I’d ask Yu-kun to explain, but he didn’t have to confront his shadow self.”

She looks like she wants to say something about that, but she stops instead when she takes notice of her shadow self is merely standing there. She comes to a stand as well, her walk a bit wobbly as she heads over to the manifestation of her inner demons. “You are me,” Chie begins slowly, “or… or the part of me that I was taught not to think about, that was wrong.”

This time, it is Yu who stiffens up at that admission. They look up and stare at the shadow Chie, taking in her blank gaze and the way she stares through the real one and almost judges Yu from where she stands.

“I didn’t want to think about it,” Chie continues, “about what you meant, about what you really were. I’m sorry I yelled at you.” she presses her fingertips together. “I… I accept you. I’ll try to be better than this, to not let you come back again, to not… not deny myself. But that doesn’t mean I have to tell others about it or agree with these thoughts either.”

The shadow nods in understanding, then reaches her hand out towards Chie with her palm up vertically. She stares at it for a long while, then reaches out with her opposing palm and presses it flat against the shadow’s. Just like with Yosuke, whiteness surrounds the shadow and then dissipates, revealing a card, and a voice booms out.

_“I AM THOU and thou! Art! I! I, the samurai Tomoe, shall come to your aid now that you have faced your inner demons, and have come to accept the deepest parts of your soul, the parts that wished to be heard! I appear before you, with thanks to the conduit you know. Accept me into your soul too, and call me as your own! Have no fear, for you are not alone. I shall be the mask that will protect you from the horrors of this world!”_

After that fanfare is said and done and the card disappears into Chie’s subconscious, she turns to look at Yu and Yosuke. Her expression is dazed, tired, and perhaps more than a bit embarrassed. She inhales deeply, then exhales and says, much to Yu’s surprise, “you never had to face your shadow?”

Yu stops and thinks, hand coming to rest on their lips, and they let out a soft ‘ah’. “I don’t think I could.” Yu says, “when I got my persona, it mentioned something about me not facing my inner demons yet.”

Yosuke lets out a soft ‘huh’ in surprise. “I didn’t hear your persona, even though you definitely heard mine and Chie-chan’s, right?” he says, the question more rhetorical than genuine, “must be something special about you, Yu-kun. I wonder why, though.” they want to say that they think they know the reason, yet something holds them back. “So does that mean you’ll have to face your inner demons at some point?”

“I suppose.” Yu says, uncomfortable.

“And… didn’t my persona say something about a conduit?” Chie asks, and Yosuke confirms hearing that too. “Maybe Yu-kun is the conduit? That’d make sense, right? If Yosuke-kun got it from Yu-kun, then that has to be it.”

They don’t spend much time in the room. All of the fighting and running about, alongside the stress and worry, causes a certain heaviness to dig into their bones and stay there, and Teddie – who doesn’t have much to do and thus isn’t tired – recommends they all turn back for now. “I have the place mapped out,” he reminds them, “so we don’t gotta worry about getting lost.”

When they step outside, Yu finds themself drawn to the butterfly at the door again. Yosuke groans and Chie just looks flabbergasted that a butterfly is here. “Come on, Yu! Why’re you so obsessed with that thing?” in lieu of answering Yosuke, they reach out to gently touch the butterfly… and they gasp when they all begin to shimmer and distort. Yosuke cries out in alarm and Chie immediately makes a weird gargle of surprise.

They blink once and the moment their eyes open up they find themself back at the entryway to the palace.

“How convenient!” Teddie remarks before he then proceeds to sniff the way back to the main area to help them all go back home.

* * *

There is a blue door leading to nowhere in the main area, a blue door that isn’t there before, and everyone looks at one another before staring back at the door.

“I don’t remember this door being here,” Chie says, as if trying to get confirmation. Yosuke grunts and says, “nope, me either.” and Teddie scratches the back of his head before further hammering it in that, “I ain’t seen it before either, and I’ve lived here forever.”

With all the confirmation out of the way, the only thing left to do is to have someone open it. Everyone seems uncomfortable with the idea of approaching a door to nowhere, especially in a weird world like this, so they decide to be the one to take the leap and check it out. After all, they probably aren't wrong about where this door leads to. Yu shuffles over to the door, grabs the handle, and then pushes the door open.

Soft piano greets their ears, as does the sight of the ever familiar…

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Igor says, his voice low and haunting, yet sweet and disarming all the same. Yu takes a step in and so does everyone else once they get the opportunity to, all of them gasping at the antique extravagance of the room around them. “My name is Igor, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance – and it has been a while since we have seen each other last, has it not, Narukami-san?”

The piano version of a waltz plays and, close to the pianist, Naoya is seen dancing with the opera singer. Her visage is emotionless, while Naoya looks to be enjoying himself. He takes notice of his new guests soon enough and beams, smiling boyishly at them before he parts from the opera singer and bows. She gives him a curtsy back. The scene is almost… endearing, in a way that they don’t want to admit.

“You came back,” Naoya says, amused, “and I can feel that you’ve gotten your Persona.” he walks over to the armchair and sits down, crosses his legs, and rests both his hands in a singular fist atop his bouncing knee. “I can tell, as well, that all three of the humans have gotten their Personas,” he remarks, the smile on his face never once leaving, “you must be tired. We have tea for you, if you want any.”

Yosuke’s voice cuts through before Yu can say yes to the tea, startling them as he says, “who ARE you?”

Undeterred, Naoya flashes a killer smile over at Yosuke and winks, causing him to flush and fluster over his attitude while he stammers about why he is so embarrassed when 'he's a man! I'm a man! Why is my face so hot!'. He snickers, looks over at Chie, and winks over to her as well, smiling at her playfully enough to cause her to look down and pat at her school skirt. It is only on Yu that Naoya’s gaze is even vaguely friendly, though it changes to something neutral in spite of his smile.

“Well, I’m Toudou Naoya, the owner of the Velvet Room. This old man is Igor… I recommend you ask him questions, because I can’t be bothered to answer any. The singer here is Belladonna, she will be the one to sing the poem of your souls – and what poems these souls write, you know! That over there is simply the Pianist, though calling the pianist as Pianist-san will helpfully make Pianist-san seem like a person and not a tool.”

It is almost as if witnessing a lion jump onto meat thrown before it as Chie, Yosuke, and Teddie go in for the pounce, Though Yosuke and Chie seem to be in a flurry, asking question after question, Teddie is the one who timidly poses questions and Igor addresses mostly him whenever he asks something.

“Does everyone have shadows?” Teddie asks, his voice suddenly extremely small and void of its prior cheerful confidence, “or is it predetermined?” he curls in on himself a little, paws rubbing over each other in his nervousness. Igor does nothing to dissuade it as he simply tilts his head mechanically, like a wooden doll.

“In this world,” Igor says, “there are those who shall fall in and have their doubts manifested. There are things far beyond your scope of understanding that may happen in regards to shadows. But know this!" one hand retreats away from beneath his chin to grab at a petite teacup that he raises up into the air, one eye slipping shut while his grin never fades.

“This world is abnormal, strange – for shadows before were unique beings borne of the souls of already pre-existing Persona users, manipulated and ripped out by beings that you shan’t ever see lest you go mad, and in situations far more dire and painful than yours.” he puts the teacup back down and his hand is back to its rightful place, eye opening so that he may stare at them all properly. His grin never changes.

Naoya hums, “it’s a shame what the users and summoners in Sumaru city had to go through.” he says absent-mindedly. “It’s a shame what… well, it doesn’t matter.”

Teddie continues on, Yosuke and Chie quieting down as he continues to ask all the questions burning up at everyone’s mind. Pianist-san begins to play a somber melody on the piano soon after, a piece reeking of regret and upset, a tragedy that has passed yet everyone still mourns. Yu finds their heart tugging, yet for a reason perhaps forever unknown to them.

Finally, the questioning comes to an end when Teddie and Chie both ask, at the same time, “why is this happening?”

Naoya glances over to Yu, then over to Pianist-san who doesn’t acknowledge any of them. Belladonna begins to hum alongside the piano piece, her eyes closing as she does so, and she folds her hands in front of herself. Igor’s grin is ever present, his chin resting on the bridge his hands form, and he says, “there is a great tragedy that will soon befall you, all of you. As it has many before you.”

“I chose Yu to deal with it,” Naoya says airily, disconnected, as though his voice is far away, “and I gave to Yu a contract, a deal to sign, as to which Yu did.” he looks over to Yu once more, the smile on his face playful even as his voice is not, “and it is up to Yu and the ones around Yu to decide whether or not they’re going to stop this tragedy, or if they will let it come to pass.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” Naoya repeats, “this is where you will come to rest, and where we will heal you… for a price, of course. This is where Yu shall come to register demons or personas into the compendium, and where you can fuse and make new demons or personas. We, of the Velvet Room, shall wish you luck.”

“We ~ of the Velvet Room~ Wish you luck~” Belladonna sings in unison with Pianist-san behind her who says, in Pianist-san’s deep, dull voice, “We of the Velvet Room wish you luck.”

Igor tilts his head to the side and stretches out his arm, his expression still unchanging in its horrific grin as he says, “I believe it is best you all return to your homes now. You have tired yourselves out after a long, arduous day today, have you not? Rest. You have some time before your friend perishes. Let us hope it does not come to that now, shall we?”

Cheekily, Naoya smiles and looks at Yu kindly, looking mischievous as he says, “see you soon.”

* * *

They all agree to meet up tomorrow after school in Junes to talk about what to do when they come back out of the TV world, with Teddie shoving them all out again so that he can have his own time to think.

Yu can’t blame him.

They go home and fall asleep the moment their head hits their pillow, even though it is only seven at night, and it is the first sound sleep they have had in a long, long while. Not even their worries taint and plague their dreams, and the Velvet Room does not visit them that night.

Tonight, Yu simply sleeps until the next day comes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try not to put notes in the fic, at least not unless they are necessary, but here I want to make a comment that I won't be going through individual negotiations for demons. That's just too much work.


	9. Chapter 8

The sound of their phone is what wakes them up early that morning and they grab it just to groggily answer whoever it is on the other end. _“Yu-kun?” _Yosuke’s voice crackles over the connection, sounding terrible thanks to their old phone’s extremely poor audio quality, _“just wanted to let you know that Chie-chan’s okay, but she’s calling in sick today. I don’t think we can go to the TV world after school. Just… yeah. Wanted to let you know. Sorry for calling super early.”_

They hang up and find themself unable to sleep after, so they head downstairs to cook breakfast only to see Chisato already up and at it. She looks surprised to see them awake so early, but then smiles gently and gestures them over. “Yu-chan,” she says, nodding her head, “good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning, auntie.” they say, “and yes, yes I did. Thank you very much, auntie.” she reaches over to ruffle their hair, running strands in between her fingertips that end up slipping away far too quickly from her grip. They watch her for a bit longer, take in her slender fingers and her tanned skin contrasting with the dull grey of their hair. They recall the trip to the barbershop and the vacant look of surprise on the barber’s face as their strands slip far too easily from her warm grip. They hold back a sigh.

“Do you need any help, auntie?”

She smiles and gestures over to something small for Yu to take care of and they have to bite back the protest. They simply help her out as best they can, insisting until they get to do more than they are right now, and soon enough everything is ready for Nanako-chan just as she stumbles downstairs with her favourite sentai figurine in hand.

They still don’t really know much about sentai to talk to her about it.

* * *

The trip to school is the same as always. They accompany Nanako there and have to, again, avoid Yosuke crashing into the two of them. They decline his offer of taking them both to the fork in the road and they instead clasp Nanako’s petite hand in their own and help lead her over there without even looking back at Yosuke.

“Um… have a good day at school, cuz!” she calls out, her voice stuttering only a little bit, and Yu beams brightly at her and then sends her off. The way she skips makes them smile, grateful to be given an opportunity to have such a cute cousin. It is thoughts of Nanako that help them through school today, especially when everyone begins whispering after Yukiko’s several days of absence.

Students gossip about her work and what it is that may be keeping her there, talking about how lucky she is to have her future set out for her, but it doesn’t take long for someone to point out that she actually overhears a conversation between cops about how Yukiko is actually missing or that she may have even run away from home. Some of the information goes in one ear and out the ear as people hypothesize and speculate nonsensical theories as to why she may run away; some of them revolve around romance being what makes her run away. No matter how ridiculous, it still focuses on her being an ‘escapee from home’.

The theory in general, with the contemplation of her being a runaway, seems to stem from the news report from the day before she goes missing, the one where the reporter talks about her mother’s breakdown and how she is taking over management temporarily until the rightful owner is back to ‘normal’ and able to take her spot again. The news reporter at the time points out how beautiful Yukiko is, focusing far-too-much on her sleek figure, and then espouses on how lucky she must be for getting work experience so soon. That interview makes them wince to recall.

_“You must have men lining left, right and centre for you, right?” _he says enthusiastically before prattling on to a very, very uncomfortable Yukiko, babbling on without letting her respond – it doesn’t seem like she wants to answer anyway, they can practically feel the unease radiating off of her through the TV screen at this fiesta. Yu doesn’t think Yukiko is the kind of person to run away, though, even with them knowing what her fate is and where she is right now.

The resulting discussion around her running away stirs everyone up, especially during lunch hour, and Yosuke just looks discomforted by it all as he struggles to not glare at the group of gossipers nearby. Yu just wants to eat in peace.

“It’s a good thing Chie-san didn’t come in today.” Yu remarks as everyone gets deep into all of their conspiracy theories about why it is that Yukiko isn’t around today. “I don’t think she will have been able to handle all of this gossiping about Yukiko-san without losing her temper.”

Yosuke sighs, “yeah, she’d probably blow a gasket once she hears everyone talking about Yukiko-chan that way and start yelling and screaming until she got detention or, worse, expelled.”

“Do you really think she would react that way?” Yu asks, genuinely curious. Yosuke hums for a bit, as if wondering how to answer while he looks over the students that are crowding around each other to exchange theories back and forth, all of which are wrong of course. “I don’t know much about Chie-san or Yukiko-san,” _‘or this town in general.’ _Yu finishes in their head, _‘but I’m still working on protecting you guys despite not knowing…’ _they try not to look into Yosuke’s eyes as the thought pops up into their head.

Tapping his foot to an imaginary beat, Yosuke bobs his head a little and crosses his arms, then shrugs when he finally comes to a conclusion, “Chie-chan’s always been protective of Yukiko-chan. She’s almost like an angry bodyguard, when I think about it. Everyone used to say that if you wanted to get through to Yukiko-chan, you had to get through the demon-guardian of the angel-queen, or something.”

“Why would a demon guard an angel?” Yu asks, confusion lacing into their voice as they do.

Yosuke hums and furrows his brows, as though realising that that is a stupid analogy now that he thinks about it. “Something about ‘the ugly demon and the stolen beauty’ or the ‘demon being assigned to watch over the angel and fight off those who aren’t worthy of her’, or something.”

The fact that Chie’s classmate refer to her as such a way makes them sit up in alarm, something that Yosuke nods to as if to acknowledge that yes – it is kind of messed up that that happens, isn’t it? But it’s in the past, is what they assume Yosuke is trying to tell them with his apologetic stare, and he then continues on with his story.

“I don’t know, we were like, pre-teens and kids and stuff. Everyone wanted and liked Yukiko-chan, and everyone wanted to be with her, as friend or boyfriend. We all knew we had to get through Chie-chan.”

Yu rests their arms on their desk as they lean forward, trying not to glance over at the empty desk that Chie is supposed to sit in. They look at Yosuke once more and squint, trying to figure out if he has trimmed his hair recently. “You’re talking like she isn’t protecting Yukiko-san anymore, Yosuke-san.” they say while resting their arms on their desk, crossing them so that they may rest their head in the little crook they make for themself.

Yosuke purses his lips in thought for a second. “Well, that’s because she, kind of, well…” Yosuke brings one arm up to scratch the back of his head, careful not to bump his headset off as he struggles to find the words to string together, before he finally sighs and says, “that’s because around the eighth grade… just some weeks after we had all hit fourteen, she just suddenly stopped.”

Furrowing their brow, they sit up properly in their seat and regard Yosuke slowly. “Stopped?” they prompt, when Yosuke seems more than content not continuing on.

“She just stopped, man.” he shrugs. “I never asked why, but I guess it’s prob’ly cause she thought Yukiko-chan could probably take care of herself by then. I mean, we were all grown up in some way at that point, right, and she didn’t need to keep protecting her, y’know? And I think Yukiko-chan’s been dealing with it well?” he probably doesn’t mean to phrase it as a question, especially given the way he flinches, but it isn’t as if wrong to assume he may not be entirely correct.

The shadow Yukiko keeps repeating the same thing over and over – _listen to me, _the shadow seems intent on saying. If Yu is able to understand the shadows well enough, they assume it may be some deep-seated issue that Yukiko has to deal with but can’t seem to accept is a struggle that exists. What her struggle is, however, is an absolute mystery to Yu – they want to assume that Chie deciding to no longer protect Yukiko may have something to do with it, but they don’t want to jump to conclusions too quickly.

Lunch break comes to an end and the rest of classes drag on, though Yu parts with Yosuke so that they may go and apply to the basketball club. The boy there, Kou, is extremely enthusiastic and rather air-headed, which is unbearably endearing to Yu in a way that they don’t want to dwell on or talk about. They admit to Kou that they are a newbie to basketball but don’t tell him _why, _not wanting to explain that in their old school it is a ‘boys only’ club, basically. They don’t think that conversation will go over that well with Kou, especially not at first meeting.

Or ever, actually, Yu thinks bitterly. They school their expression to not have it show and instead simply focus on Kou and his catlike eyes and his mischievous expression as he tries to get Yu used to the basketball and makes some sort of weird, lewd pun on ‘cleaning balls’. “I love cleanin’ me some balls,” he says, all while ominously dragging a wet white towel over the basketball’s perfectly smooth, orange surface, “wanna touch my clean balls, Yu-kun?”

It is almost impressive how well Kou delivers that line without breaking his expression or breaking into laughter. They also don’t want to admit that they actually get the joke, so they play completely oblivious even as his friend, Daisuke, looks to be about a second away from losing his mind at Kou at the same time that he struggles with not trying to ‘explain’ the joke to Yu.

The first day of basketball helps to ease their nerves, only a little, as the rain rages on and their mind reminds them of the ever on-going countdown to the day it all clears out to leave behind only fog. Though it isn’t as if they can go on like this when Chie isn’t available and they may more than likely need her newly-awakened persona to help them through the upcoming battles with unruly and unwilling demons who don’t want to negotiate.

* * *

They arrive back home to the sight of Nanako doing her homework at the dinner table while Chisato washes the dishes. They call out a tired, yet happy, “I’m home!” and both Nanako and Chisato respond with warm “welcome homes” to them. It makes the gap and space that their parents leave behind a bit easier to bear with both of them being so happy to see Yu come home.

“Hey, hey cousin, why were you late today?” Nanako asks, with innocent, childish curiosity, and Yu smiles as they tread over to sit next to her. “Were you with your friends? Mommy says you’ve been going out with your friends, and she said to be happy you got friends so fast! So, I am! It’s not nice being alone.”

Yu hums. “I’m glad to know you’re happy for me, Nanako-chan. And no, I wasn’t with my usual friends today. I joined an after-school club, so on some days I might come back home later than usual.” they explain and Nanako listens, enraptured with everything Yu has to say in that sort of child-like focus. Chisato smiles at them from over her shoulder before she goes back to her chores and for serving food for Yu. “I joined the basketball club. This was my first ever time playing basketball, but I made a new friend called Ichijou Kou, and he’s going to help me learn how to play.”

Nanako swings her legs as she puts her pencil down, her hands grabbing the edge of her seat. “Did you have a basketball club back at your old school?” she asks.

“Yes, yes I did,” they say honestly, “but I never could join because it was an unspoken rule that it was a boys-only club. Almost everyone was a boy and no girls were in the club, and no girls wanted to join either.”

No one back at their old school likes the basketball club members, mostly because of their attitudes. Kou seems nicer, though; he laments about the fact that not a lot of girls are joining their club while Yu is there, before he then muses on about the problem with the fact that they don’t have a manager as well. The clubs at Yasogami high are pretty much abandoned, is what Kou tells them. All the artsy clubs are also suffering.

Yu turns their attention back to Nanako. She furrows her brow, the wheels in her brain turning as she tries to register what Yu is explaining to her. “But… cousin said that they aren’t a boy OR a girl, and mommy said that you aren’t a boy or girl despite the fact that everyone thinks you’re a boy. Does that mean everyone used to think you were a girl?”

They nod as they hear Nanako’s words through their pulse pounding in their ears. “I used to think I was a girl too, because everyone else told me to be a girl.” Yu tries to explain gently, even as they have to force the words out through the cotton clogging through esophagus. They have to pause for a bit, wondering how else to explain the rest, but they decide against it and to leave it for when Nanako is a bit older. “But I couldn’t join the club, because everyone said I was a girl, and no girl wanted to be part of the club.”

“And… there was no clubs for people who aren’t boys or girls?” she asks while her face scrunches up in total, utter confusion.

“No, and there were no clubs who thought that there are people like me,” Yu says carefully, as though navigating a minefield. Chisato stops in her spot and looks over at them with growing worry, her shoulders tensing up and her body ready just in case she needs to distract Nanako. “But now I can join this club, because everyone thinks I’m a boy. But I still think it’s not fair that it’s for boys only, basically.”

Nanako’s face becomes stern, suddenly. She twists it up in frustration and anger as she says, “it’s not fair at all! I wanna play basketball too! Does that mean that when I get older and I go to your school I won’t be able to play basketball?”

They chew on their lower lip for a little bit, wondering how to respond. Chisato interjects into the conversation as she settles Yu’s lunch down in front of them. “Who knows, honey,” she says sweetly, “maybe years later when you go to school, things will be different. Everyone and everything is always changing, sweetie, and you should always remember that.”

* * *

Chie isn’t at school the next day either. When they call her phone, her mother ends up picking it up to apologise and let Yu know – after they explain everything and how worried they are – that Chie has been a bit sick lately and is unable to leave the bed. The doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong with her, really, but her mother says that he chalks it up to lethargy from a cold and says that she will probably be fine in a few days.

Tomorrow is going to be a weekend so that they can focus on their studying, so today they just simply wander around Inaba just to map the place out. The market district isn’t really all that big, though there are many shops that are starting to close thanks to the megacorporation that is Junes being nearby. Chisato always tells them that she prefers not to shop from Junes, “they may be cheap but the quality isn’t really the best.” she says to them when she comes back from grocery shopping. “And I would rather support the small businesses than Junes itself.”

It is in passing by a diner and a shop, however, that Yu takes notice of a small alleyway. It is mostly empty, save for a few boxes strewn about messily, but that isn’t what catches their attention. What does grab their attention is the Velvet Room door hiding away at the far back of the alleyway, the shadows from the buildings on either side of the alleyway further helping to conceal the blue door.

They decide it is best they don’t step into it right now, but they keep the location in mind.

There is nothing else in the shopping district that really catches their eye, but they do stop by the shrine to leave a wish behind and offer prayers to the spirits. Though they do not know if they will be heard, they nonetheless give a small donation and still hope for something good to come of this. The TV world, Inaba, the murders…

_‘May the spirits help me,’ _Yu thinks, _‘or please, at the very least, be as real as the demons in the TV world.’_

A call from Chisato grabs their attention when they step away from the shrine, with her asking where they are and them replying that they are the shopping district. _“Do you think you could go shopping for me? Just give me the receipt and I’ll pay everything back when you come home.”_

“Of course, auntie.” Yu says, always hoping to help with the household as best they can. They are the one who comes into this house and crashes in, and they have a duty to make sure that they are not an inconvenience to Chisato and Nanako in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

Chie calls them when tomorrow comes, in the late afternoon while Yu is busy looking through their in-class notes and trying to piece it together with the book in an attempt to do their homework.

_“Yu-kun?” _she asks, almost as if scared she is dialing the wrong number, though given how tired she sounds Yu wonders what to say to her, _“is that you? Don’t tell me I dialled Yosuke-kun again…”_

“Um, no.” they begin awkwardly, “it’s me. Can I help you, Chie-san?”

_“Oh, I – I just wanted to ask if we can meet up at this shop tomorrow…? I’m feeling better already, and I want to go back to trying to save Yukiko. I don’t… I don’t want to take too long, y’know? I, um. I’m worry about Yukiko.”_

Yu tries not to sigh too loudly, or at all; they rub their face and exhale into their palm, muffling themself as best they can. “I understand, Chie-san.” Yu says, eyes staring at their homework and classwork and the words all blur together after long enough, “I’ll meet you after school tomorrow. Did you tell Yosuke-san that we’ll be meeting up tomorrow?”

_“I, ah. Yeah. I told him that I’d ask you first, so… I’ll let him know you said yes, okay? Um.” _they can almost imagine the look of awkwardness on her face as she struggles to end the conversation, or even carry it in the first place. Any other time she can probably talk their ear off, asking about the city or telling them things about Inaba that may or may not be that interesting. This is not ‘any other time’, clearly.

“Thank you.” they say finally, “I’ll see you both tomorrow.” they hang up before Chie can say goodbye. They have homework to work on. They have quizzes to worry about.

They bury their face into their palms and

_Scream._


	10. Chapter 9

“We need weapons.” is the first thing Yosuke says to Yu when they all meet up again and they have to immediately slap a hand onto his mouth to make him shut up when one of the students look at them in alarm.

Chie laughs sheepishly, swatting Yosuke on his back _hard _and Yu removes their hand when he yelps like a puppy, looking confused. She says, with her voice that betrays how truly tired she is, “Yosuke-kun’s just being an idiot like always, you know him.” she says to one of the students that stare at him, having heard him say their need for a weapon. Yu shrugs, uncertain of what else to say. They pretty much flee from the school and head off towards the market district, where she makes claim that she knows of an armor shop that will have everything they need.

“Oh, here,” Chie says as she gives them yen to buy what they need, “this should be just enough to be able to get Yosuke-kun and you some weapons, so I hope you guys are able to get what you need from here.” she then turns back to the blacksmith with the one eye who looks them up and down curiously, wondering what a bunch of kids want in his store.

They all don’t take long. Chie gets something to help her kick harder, given that she relies on her legs, Yosuke buys a pair of kunai-substitutes, and Yu… just grabs a huge sword because they really don’t know what else to do. It isn’t that big, but it definitely is bigger than it needs to be. They stare at it for a while, their stare continuing even when they step outside of the store.

“How are we going to take this into Junes?” Yu asks and Yosuke and Chie, both of whom are in an animated conversation about their prowess, come to a stop when they realise their new issue.

“We could… hide them in our uniforms?” Yosuke suggests, “I can hide my kunai pretty easily.”

“And mine are basically just boots.”

Yu furrows their brow, “then what do I do?”

“Stuff it in your pants!” Chie chirps cheerfully and Yu is hit with the urge to kill her where she stands, and if it isn’t for the fact that murder is illegal if not done within reasonable grounds of self-defence they really will have gone through with it. “It looks skinny enough, and it has a hilt, right? Just clip it onto your underwear and shove it in your pants.”

They really, really hate her right now.

* * *

The plan goes as well as they expect it to, which is _barely. _Officer Adachi, who they recall meeting him on the first day here, is hanging around in the food court of Junes where they are _officially _having their meeting to try and figure out what to do. He seems to be staring at his coffee quizzically, hand curling at his chin while he looks at the Styrofoam cup.

Yu, however, feels extremely uncomfortable here. They have a sword barely fitting into their pant leg, pressing against them, and they cannot sit down without making it even more obvious that there is a sword there. The discomfort over this all is only worsened by the fact that Adachi catches sight of them immediately and begins to beeline towards them.

“Hey, Yu-kun, right?” Adachi says with a friendly smile plastered on his face, though the grin doesn’t really match his eyes as he looks Yu up and down curiously. He looks over to Chie and Yosuke, both of whom are just sitting down. The way he looks at them makes them flush bright, bright red with embarrassment. “What’cha doing standing like that?” he asks, an eyebrow raising up when Yu breaks out into sweat.

They rub the back of their neck. Chie and Yosuke both look extremely uncomfortable. “Well, I just didn’t feel like sitting down.” Yu says, limply, like an utter twat. “I’m okay standing, we’re not really going to be here for long. We just met up to talk and then we’re going to go somewhere else.”

Adachi continues to eye them suspiciously, only for his gaze to fall on their waist. They look down and their eyes widen when they see just a tiny bit of the hilt peeking out from their waistband. “Um,” Yu begins, eyes widening in clear distress when Adachi looks back up at them suspiciously, his hand swirling his coffee around in the Styrofoam cup, “how has the investigation been going, Adachi-san?” they say in lieu of anything else, and Adachi just eyes them up and down.

Chie and Yosuke are completely frozen in place.

“Regarding the young Amagi girl, right?” Adachi asks conversationally, as though he still isn’t staring at Yu like he wants an explanation, “Uchida-chan’s been trying to figure out how or why the girl could’ve gone missing, so we’re still investigating that.” he twirls the Styrofoam cup in small, careful circles as he holds it by the lid, the grip looking loose despite it being everything but that. He smiles, still, even as he takes a step closer to Yu.

Their heart slams in their chest, their breath hitching, and they try not to make it too obvious as they carefully shuffle away from Adachi. He is _too close. _“I’m sorry for asking, you can’t tell us much, right?” Yu says, continuing to still try and keep the conversation going, and Adachi’s gaze is honeyed and sweet, kind and disarming in a way that nearly causes them to drop their guard.

“Well, you are Amagi-chan’s friends, right?” he continues on, a pondering look taking over for a brief second before he nods, “well, don’t let Uchida-chan know I told you anything,” he says conspiratorially, looking both mischievous and careful as he says, “we think she’s been kidnapped, and that our killer’s going to kill her soon. Issue is, we can’t find any traces of how she got kidnapped or who would do it, because the last place people saw her was at the inn. We have nothing to go off on, and Uchida-chan’s perplexed by this. Some of the other cops think she’s being crazy, and that Amagi-chan just ran away after her mother broke down and made her take over for a little bit.”

Adachi’s smile is still on his face, looking off and amused in a way that Yu does not think one should be when It comes to a subject such as this. “I think Uchida-chan may be right though. We’re still going to treat it as a case of both, just to make sure we’ve got all our grounds covered. If she comes back home, it’d be the best case scenario, so I’m hoping that she just ran away.”

Yosuke and Chie glance at one another, worry clearly etched on their face. Adachi doesn’t seem to notice, or maybe even care, that his words are causing them clear distress. “Well, I gotta go now. Uchida-chan said she’s gonna meet up with me so that we can talk about the case more. She’s worried about the details and what’s happening, and wants to see if we can set up something to keep y’alls safe. Just boring, menial stuff. You kids are lucky to be in high school, what I wouldn’t do to be a teen again… well, be safe.”

He turns as though to leave but then simply stands there, with his back towards Yu. He is still standing too close, his presence clearly felt – like a hand around Yu’s throat. They stare at the wide expanse of his back, the lazy slump of his shoulders. Adachi hums, looks over his shoulder and then after he takes a sip of his coffee he says, “maybe be careful with whatever it is you’re packing. I won’t take you to the station, but I don’t think that security officer will be as nice as me. Try and not to get a stain on your record, alright kid?”

* * *

They don’t go to the electronics department immediately. Instead, Yu drags them away to the Velvet Room where Naoya, Igor, and everyone else waits as per usual. Naoya startles a little at seeing the way Yu bursts in with a sword in their hand, his tea spilling a little onto the ground, and Igor just acknowledges them with his typical “Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Their hope seems to be founded: despite the fact that the door is in a different location than the main area in the TV world, the room seems to be the same and it doesn’t suffer the same potential uncertainty as the TV’s transportations.

Regardless, there is a question they need to ask, one that is extremely important:

“Can we put our items here and retrieve them?” Yu asks in a frenzy, their breathing heavy and voice raspy from how hard they sprint over here. “We can’t go to the TV world because my sword’s too obvious.”

Naoya sets his tea cup down. “That sounds like a very, very bad joke,” he says absentmindedly and Chie giggles from behind and then coughs when Yosuke elbows her, “the Velvet Room is the same no matter where you go,” Naoya continues on, “and if you leave something here it will still be here even after you go to a different door to the Velvet Room. Would you like to leave your weapons here for retrieval?”

“Yes! God! Please! Thank you!” Yu exclaims so loudly that Yosuke and Chie jolt from the uncharacteristic display, though Yu supposes that they will also feel this way if they have a sword in their pants that lays stiffly against their leg!

They head back to Junes and Yu wheezes at finally being able to walk like a normal person. Yosuke apologises to them and they wave it off, and further wave off Chie’s apology when she murmurs it out in an ashamed tone of voice. They do the same song and dance after they get into the electronics department; they check for witnesses, step in one by one to ensure no permanent damage, greet Teddie who waits dutifully for them, and then immediately beeline towards the Velvet Room to grab their weapons.

Igor is the one who hands it to them and he bows deeply to Yu when they take their sword back. The tea spill from earlier is wiped clean. “I wish you luck with today, Narukami-sama,” Igor says, “may you save your friend, lest she perish.”

Naoya snorts. Pianist-san plays on, ever diligently, and ignores them all while playing a somber, melancholy tone on the piano. They don’t recognise this one either, though it isn’t as if they know many classic pieces, but even then… this doesn’t sound like a classical scene. This just sounds… _sad _and lonely in a way they can’t really grasp.

“What is Pianist-san playing?” Yu asks.

Naoya crosses his arms and legs, leans back into the sofa, and tilts his head back as he says, “a mournful tune to a world soon to come, and for the last vestiges of mankind.”

They leave the Velvet Room soon after, even though Teddie lingers behind a little and seems to want to ask something from Igor. He still relents and leaves when Yu reminds him that they need him to lead the way, and Teddie sniffs the way back to the palace. He whips his map out and begins to guide them once more, navigating through the labyrinthine maze that is Yukiko’s palace.

Chie looks sick as she steps back into the room where they fight her shadow self, all signs of battle gone and the room being as empty and as hollow as a shell.

“Yukiko…” she says remorsefully, and nothing else.

The third floor is just as dangerous as the first, perhaps even more so as more and more demons surround them and try to kill them. Chie’s persona ends up being a sort of guardian for them all – she is the one who they call upon to take the brunt of the damage when it seems like it is going to be too much, though Yu still makes sure to try and have their demons heal any pain and injuries the boisterous Tomoe may suffer.

It is an alternation of personas for Yu, they realise; unlike their party members, they are not constrained to the singular persona that they start out with. Instead, they have to be the one to summon in personas who use fire, electricity, or healing and defensive spells as Yosuke and Chie are restrained only to the one, though the former can heal as well if necessary. They make a mental note to ask Naoya why that is later, though they have a niggling feeling that it has something to do with Yu playing ‘conduit’.

The fourth floor is just as difficult as they expect it to be and they find one of their suspicions confirmed: the demons are getting stronger the deeper they get in, and they find themself feeling grateful that Teddie stops them their first trip here from just going all the way through.

“We’re getting closer,” Teddie says as he sniffs the air, his paws gripping onto the map protectively, “I can smell Yukiko-chan’s spirit, and I think she’s a floor right above us. Are we all going to be okay? Are we ready to go?” he asks, nervously, as he carefully rolls the map up in his paws for a brief second.

Chie takes in a deep breath. “I have to be ready.” she says, “I _need _to be ready. I have to. There’s… Yukiko’s in danger. I need to be there for her. I have to make up for…” she places her hands on her heart, her head bowing down and her gaze burning holes into the floor. She makes a small picture like that, bringing to light how short she really is.

Yosuke comes up to her and places his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it carefully as he rubs it before saying, “we’ll save Yukiko-chan, okay? You don’t have to beat yourself up for it, or blame yourself. We’re all going to save her. C’mon, let’s go. Standing around isn’t going to save Yukiko-chan, and we still haven’t found the stairs up yet.”

Fighting isn’t the best feeling in the world and Yu immediately thinks back to their old school, wondering why it is that cities breed delinquents if fighting is this unpleasant. Perhaps it is different fighting demons than it is fighting each other with bare knuckles and grit teeth instead of spirits and demons. It is almost a relief when they find the stairs to the next floor, though they all stop to have a bite of the melon breads that Yosuke has the foresight to buy for them.

“What do you think we’re going to run into, on the next floor?” Yosuke asks quietly, and Chie stiffens up. “We’re going to be dealing with Yukiko-chan’s shadow, right? What do you think we’ll learn? What do you think we’ll fight?”

Chie looks away. “Do we have to fight her?” she asks in a small voice, “I don’t want to fight anyone that looks like Yukiko.”

“Perhaps accepting our shadow,” Yu says after nibbling on a piece of melon bread, “is the truth of it. That’s what you both did in the end, right?”

Teddie hums and haws sadly, his eyes downcast as he says, “I wish we could go back and ask Igor or Naoya-kun…”

They doubt that Naoya will bother answering, though they aren’t too sure about Igor. That man is too cryptic and terrifying for his own good. After that discussion is over with, they finish up with their melon bread and feel a little bit better after that snack, grateful that they get to at least eat something.

* * *

A voice greets them after they ascend the stairs, the very one that belongs to the Shadow who says, **“you won’t listen. Chie won’t listen. I don’t understand why none of you will listen.” **her voice is soft even in its distortion, and she sounds as though she is one second away from just asking a question, **“I don’t want to take over the inn. I don’t want this. I never wanted the popularity. I didn’t want it. Why would anyone think that I do?”**

Chie swallows the lump in her throat down. Shadow Yukiko stops speaking and they begin to traverse the new floor, feeling surprised that it seems to be taking the shape of a square-outline as they navigate through. No demons attack them this time, though Yu isn’t relaxing just yet.

Yukiko, the _real _one, speaks, her voice shocking all of them, “she’s right. I didn’t want it. The inheritance, to work at the inn, to be popular at school… everyone assumed I did. My parents – I rely on them, a lot. I can’t say anything back to them yet.”

**“They cause me a lot of grief, and I don’t know how to tell them how much they upset me. I rely on them. All I can do is just do what they ask of me, and everyone praises me for it. I wish – I wish I was stronger.”**

“… I still do think like that. I wanted a prince to save me. I wanted Chie to protect me again. She left me alone…”

Her voice comes to a stop. Yosuke points out a door just ahead, assuming that to be the place they need to go to. Given that there have been no doors anywhere else, Yu is inclined to believe him. Chie closes her eyes and begins to pray. They all sprint up to the door and skid to a halt just in time for Shadow Yukiko’s voice to break through the silence once more.

**“I do not understand the me who cares for you.”**

Chie steps up to the door and grabs at the door handle, her back ramrod straight. “This is it.” she says, her hand trembling, and she inhales and exhales heavily, slowly, before pushing the door open.

Shadow Yukiko is in the room, though she stands completely and utterly still in front of the real Yukiko; the two of them look unchanged, untouched, as though frozen in time. Yu is sure that they just think that way simply because of how surreal and unreal this world is; time is definitely not frozen, as they always seem to take an hour or more in the TV and come back later than initially.

“Yukiko-chan!” Yosuke cries out as he squeezes through Yu and Chie, surprising them both. “Whatever you do, don’t deny your shadow!”

Yukiko looks up… only to turn her gaze away from Yosuke when the shadow Yukiko speaks up. **“There are so many things I want myself,” **the shadow says, her gaze settling heavy on the three of them, **“I wanted to be myself. I wanted to leave Inaba to go to university in the city, then get a degree doing what I want. I didn’t want to work at the inn immediately after school, where my mom and dad will probably try and get me a husband.**

**“Do you know that I don’t want a boyfriend or husband, at all? I don’t want that. I don’t want to date, or be tied down. I wanted to be protected. From the world around me. From everyone. I wanted… I wanted Chie to care for me again. She seemed… she became like my parents. She kept trying to set me up. She never, never protected me after eighth grade.”**

“That’s not true!” Chie cries out, “I always – I always looked out for you! I knew you could take care of yourself, so I just wanted you to… I can’t… I was still there for you. I still was! I swear! I would’ve listened to you!”

Shadow Yukiko continues on, undeterred from the tears welling up in Chie’s eyes, **“you stopped being my prince. I knew that… I knew you were jealous of me. I always knew. But… I was jealous of you. You were always yourself. You let yourself be whatever you wanted to be…”**

“… but now I know even you had your doubts.” Yukiko finishes. She takes one step forward, then another, and another, until she is standing in front of her shadow self. She stands tall, proud in a way that they never see her stand, and she reaches her hand out. “We all have doubts. I have mine. And… and what my shadow is saying? It’s true.”

She inhales deeply and the shadow watches her and waits for her to do something, say anything; probably wants her to deny her existence, deny the darkness in herself.

With steely resolve, Yukiko says, “the me I am right now… isn’t the me I want. She’s… she’s me. She’s –” Yukiko’s breath hitches, as though she wants to cry, “she must be hurting so much.”

Their jaws drop open, all three of them completely surprised by that declaration. “Wait,” Chie says, “what do you mean? Yukiko… what are you talking about? You’re… you’re not going to… are you… really accepting this part of you?”

“I’m done denying myself. You are right,” Yukiko says loudly, “I’m scared. But I also have to move forward.” she curls her outstretched hand into a brief fist before she relaxes it out into an open palm, offering it to her shadow self resolutely, “I want to accept you. I have to move forward. I’m going to love myself for who I am.”

**“Will you?” **the shadow asks, **“will you be able to? And what if you fall? I am the better you, I am the you who knows who she is. I am the you who knows better. Why do you think you will be able to do better if I was within you, and not of my own person?”**

Yukiko’s voice doesn’t tremble, her form is still strong, she stands as still as a samurai before her lord as she says, “because you are part of me, and with you I’ll grow stronger. Maybe I’ll become a better person… I’ve – I’ve had a lot of time to think, while I was here. I don’t want you to hurt anymore.”

Silence drags on and for one long, increasingly damning moment, to the point that Yu fears that not even acceptance alone will calm a shadow; is it only denial that will make them leave? A denial of the self, the facing of the denial, and then the acceptance when there is no further option? Those worries go away, however, when the shadow reaches out and grabs onto Yukiko’s hand.

Just as before, a white shimmer overtakes the shadow who, to everyone’s surprise, openly _weeps _before them. Yukiko grabs her and brings her into an embrace, holding onto the shadow even as she shimmers and fades. Her sobs overtake the room, becoming weaker and weaker until she finally bursts harmlessly and forms into an ever familiar card.

It floats above Yukiko then gently down onto her palms. A sweet voice breaks through.

_“I am thou, thou art I. You, of kind, gentle soul, have been able to look into yourself and accept yourself. You are brave, stronger than you may believe. You have seen the you you could have become, the you of bitterness, and still you accepted her. From your kindness I am born, and with the help of the conduit I appear to you. Accept me into your soul as well, and call me as your own. Do not fear no more. I shall be the mask that protects you from the horrors of this world.”_

The card disappears into Yukiko’s subconscious and she turns to face them, her expression thoughtful yet soon to be relieved. “I’m… I’m sorry to make you all worry for nothing. But, as I’ve said, all the time I spent here… it let me think. It let me ponder.” she nods slowly, then says, carefully, “I… want to speak to Chie, if it’s okay. _Alone.”_

Yu and Yosuke scurry out hurriedly, dragging Teddie behind with them all the while. The door slams loudly behind them and Chie looks at Yukiko nervously. “Hey.” she says, for lack of anything better to say to the tired looking Yukiko.

She smiles and waves at Chie, “hey.” Yukiko says limply, “I… I want to let you know, that I hope you still stay my friend after what I’m going to tell you.” Chie’s brow furrows in confusion while Yukiko nibbles on her lower lip. “I… I’ve never liked boys. Or men. I never liked them. I’ve always hated it when they flirted with me because I’ve never found _any _of them attractive,” she begins anxiously, her eyes darting side to side and away from Chie, “I didn’t like it. I used to think… something was wrong with me.”

“There’s never anything wrong with you,” Chie says unthinkingly, automatically, “you’re perfect. Everything about you is perfect.”

Yukiko smiles coyly, looking so sweet in a way that makes Chie’s heart pang – a feeling that causes panic to rise. She stomps it down – Yukiko has more to say to her. “Thank you,” she says warmly, kindly, as though Chie is her entire world, “but… I don’t know if you’ll continue to think this way when I say… that I am in love with you.”

Chie’s mouth falls open.

“I’ve always been in love with you. I don’t like boys, I like _girls. _I like girls like you. I love you. And… I hope you won’t hate me for it.”

Though the shock still hits her – from the two big, huge, _massive _reveals, Chie feels something protective rise up inside of her. Something that flares with the idea of Yukiko ever being in danger, in trouble, and a moment of anger directs itself at her when she realises that she even gives off the impression that she will ever hate her.

Confusion settles in last of all, and she is slow when she says, “I… I won’t… I won’t hate you for this. But I… I don’t know what to think. I was… I always thought…” how is she going to say this? That she thinks it’s wrong? But… she never has in her entire life thought of Yukiko as _wrong, _as _immoral. _Yukiko is amazing, perfect just the way she is. She is wonderful, she is… “I need some time to think. I’m – I don’t hate you. I will _never _hate you. No matter what. I’ll… I’ll try and keep this in mind but I – you… you’re amazing. You’re my friend. My best friend.”

“Thank you,” Yukiko breathes out, her eyes wide with relief, and her entire posture sags when she finally relaxes, “I was… I… I’m so tired…?”

Her expression softens and for a moment the confusion is gone, the feeling of bewilderment too, and it is all taken over by the need to take her back home. “Come on,” Chie says, “you’ll feel better when we go home. I promise.”

* * *

Yukiko seems tired when she finally emerges, leaning on Chie to guide her, and Yu tries not to stare at the latter’s face for too long. She seems harrowed, almost, as she loses herself in thought. She doesn’t say much, just gives one-off answers and random grunts of acknowledgement, so Yosuke and Yu leave the two of them alone. Whatever that happens in there is for the two of them only, so Yu doesn’t want to pry. Though it is clear something serious has happened, judging by the way Chie looks.

They all part ways after they get out of the palace. They make a brief visit to the Velvet Room to heal up, just so that they don’t feel like shit going back home, and then finally separate when they are in Junes again. Yu practically drags their body back home and excuses themselves to bed early, Chisato nodding in understanding and Nanako wishes them an enthusiastic good night.

Sleep comes easy that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this ends An Arc of the story, as well as indicating a temporary break from the story until I can plan all the other individual arcs out. As I've said, I know what will happen, just not what will happen per chapter.
> 
> Thank you for anyone who read this far in the story. Thank you.


	11. Interlude - Saki [1]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu pays Saki a visit after her rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, this is just a random, REALLY short chapter I wanted to write. I don't know if I should make actual social link chapters still, so if I should do it it will add time to the planning process. That's all I wanted to say. If anyone wants to comment, let me know if I should make social links.

The bouquet of flowers in their hands feel heavy, not as heavy as the burden resting upon their shoulders or the emotions weighing in their heart, but it is heavy nonetheless – Yosuke isn’t visiting Saki in the hospital today, so it is only them and her, and no one else, and the bouquet almost slips from their hands thanks to all of their nerves. They take in a deep breath, steel themselves, and then make their way over to Saki’s room. After her being returned to the clinic, the police takes her to the nearby hospital to ensure her safe recovery and Tamaki gives Yu the address after Yosuke begs them to convince her. It is a bit of a rotation where Chie or Yosuke are the ones who visit her, sometimes both at the same time, and Yu normally makes it a point not to come over when they don’t really know the woman.

No one, except for Chisato and maybe the Velvet Room, know that they are coming to visit Konishi Saki. They take in a deep breath, confirm once more that this is the room that she is staying in, and they gently, nervously, open the door. Sitting on her hospital bed, reading what seems to be a manga given to her by Yosuke, is Konishi Saki – she looks tired, extremely fatigued and almost feverish, though she doesn’t look as bad as one will if sick. They suppose that it is the stress that must be making her feel this way, judging from what they learn thanks to her palace.

She looks up from her manga at the sound of her room door opening and she puts it away, a smile coming on her exhausted visage and Yu takes in a deep breath. They take slow, careful steps towards her and gently place the bouquet of flowers next to her. “Um, hello.” Yu says, quiet and unsure, “we’ve met before. But I didn’t introduce myself at the time.” they stand next to her bed, place their hands on their knees, and give a quick bow. “My name is Narukami Yu, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You’re the one who found me, aren’t you?” she says after Yu straightens their back up and they nod, embarrassed, as they take a seat on the chair next to Saki’s bed. “Thank you. And It’s good to see you again and actually know who you are. Yosuke-kun is very lucky to have you as a friend, you know?”

Yu swallows and looks down on their lap, their hands folding atop of it and their shoulders slump. “Thank you, but I only just came to Inaba. I don’t know what I’ve really done to deserve such kindness.” they hand the bouquet over to Saki, who takes it gratefully and places it – carefully – on the table next to her bed. They stare at some of the gifts that Chie and Yosuke have left behind. “How… how are you feeling? It must be overwhelming to not remember what happened to you…”

Saki hums while not looking at Yu, her gaze focused almost entirely on the bouquet. “Actually,” she begins, her voice a bit distant, “I know what happened to me. I can remember it – but I… I don’t know who actually did it to me. The only thing I can’t remember is the face of my kidnapper.” Yu looks at them curiously, quiet while they wait for Saki to finish her story. “… I know I fell into the TV. I know that… I saw myself there. But it was another me, a different me, a Saki who was… really frustrated and angry.

“I spent so much of my time being mad that when I saw her – I got angry, too, because I agreed with her. But then she said something that I didn’t agree with, and I finally realised what I had to do.” she sighs and looks at Yu finally, a sorry smile on her face. “You and Yosuke-kun were there, weren’t you? So that means you heard my frustrations, huh.”

Yu looks away, guiltily.

“I wanted to tell this to the police, but I realised how crazy I sounded. But for some reason… officer Uchida seemed to take me seriously. All the other officers said I was probably delirious from being kidnapped, and they wanted to see if I was drugged or not.” she shakes her head. “But you saw it, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Yu says, “I was there. I know what happened. I’m… I’m sorry that we took so long. I just wanted to give you these flowers as apology and well-wishes in hopes that you will get better.” Saki doesn’t stop them from getting up and leaving, and she just waves goodbye while Yu makes their exit. She goes back to reading her manga once they are at the door and they look over their shoulder just to see how Saki is doing, and she seems to look better now that she has her worries off of her chest.

They make a mental note to check up on her again, later. The hospital door closes behind them with an audible click.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, by the way.


	12. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Note:** This chapter is reuploaded and has had parts of it changed, with a few corrections made here and there.
> 
> **Edit, 23/09/2020:** Fixed a type where I called Saki "Konichi" instead of "Konishi"

The few days after Yukiko’s rescue goes a bit better than it does with Saki; though she is still clearly exhausted, she doesn’t require hospital care like Saki does, and she is able to come back to school in what is estimated to be a few days if not at least a week. They suppose it is going to be the same estimate as with Chie and Yosuke, and they can only thank God that this allows them some time to relax. They take this time to catch up on all of the studying they miss thanks to this whole fiasco, and then help around the house when they are free. They also have to go to basketball practice, and they make sure to go every day that they are able to – Kou appreciates them for it.

“You’re the most consistent player so far, and you haven’t been here for even months! I really appreciate you, dude.” Kou says one day, standing next to Yu while he crosses his arms, a smile on his face and gratitude glowing bright in his catlike eyes. “Bet’cha too that all the girls love watching you play, huh?” he snickers, grin spreading wide and his face going a bit pink from his own giggling. “Aw, man. But, for real though. You attract an insane amount of attention from girls, you realise that?”

Yu tries not to roll their eyes as they pay for the meal with money they make by selling some of the miscellaneous objects of the TV world to the blacksmith. Some of their money also comes from a legitimate job, though that mostly involves them working on translating. They like the money they get from the dungeon only a tiny bit better, if only because the blacksmith pays a lot for them. It is after they pay and get their food that they take a seat, having gone to a fast food burger joint this first time.

“Yes,” they say, trying not to be too curt to Kou, “I’ve noticed. But I’m not really interested in a relationship, I have other stuff to worry about.”

Kou nods and tilts his head to the side, his face looking gentle and expression sweet. Yu ducks their head down just to avoid the way their heart flutters at the kindness. “Yeah, I get it. You haven’t been in Inaba long, but you’re really studious, aren’t you, Yucchi?” he says, and that is the first time they hear their new nickname. They don’t know how to feel about it, but they don’t stop him from saying it. “You had to’ve been a really good student back in the city, huh?”

They shrug. “I suppose so, yeah.” they rub the back of their neck and they almost flinch away from Kou when he places a hand on their shoulder. “Kou-san?”

“You look uncomfortable,” he says inquisitively, eyes as sharp as a cat’s claw, and Yu blinks slowly, “is it because of practice? Am I pushing you too hard? You said it’s your first time playing basketball, right? Do you need me to ease up until you’re more used to it? I haven’t… actually been taking that into consideration, and –”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Yu says, flustering a bit when they take in Kou’s heavily concerned gaze, “I’ve just been really tired, lately. It’s my last year, so I’m pushing myself to work harder and be able to get to college, you know? I have the college entry exams to worry about, and then this new school and curriculum… and my homeroom teacher isn’t the best…”

Kou sighs in relief knowing that he isn’t the one behind any of Yu’s distress, something that makes bite back the urge to smile widely at him, then shakes his head and bows it down when he says, “king Moron, right? Everyone knows him, sheesh. I feel so sorry for you dude. I’m so lucky I got Ishikawa-sensei this year! She’s really nice, way better than king Moron at least.”

“I wish that was my homeroom teacher,” Yu snorts, “every time I hear about her, everyone talks about her like she’s God’s gift or something. Is she really that great?”

“Oh dude! She…” after that, Kou begins to tell them stories about Ishikiawa and King Moron, then the other teachers when Yu asks. They depart some time after that, with Kou citing that he has to go home, study, then cook dinner for himself, and Yu offers to cook something for him if he ever wants them to. Kou looks extremely tempted to take the offer then and there, but excuses himself after a great degree of self-control is exerted.

They part on good terms after that and all of the stress from their rescue attempts ends up rolling off of their shoulders – they still have a lot to worry about, a lot to be curious about, but at the very least Kou is able to help them without him even realising it. They leave the burger joint with a tongue burning from the spicy chicken sandwich, their eyes a bit red from the tears that happen because of the extreme spice, and they sniffle while staring up at the clear sky.

There hasn’t been rain in some time after them running into Yukiko, and they wonder how she is doing now – she separates from them some time after, saying that she just wants to go to the police and talk to them, and Yu briefly takes her aside to mention that the police may not believe her but officer Uchida may listen to her. They hope that the talks have been going well. The TV report following her return only says that Yukiko is kidnapped and then later released due to another anonymous rescue, with speculation rising up that it may be the same person who rescues Saki behind bringing Yukiko back. They hope that they are never found as the saviours, and are extremely grateful that Tamaki seems to respect them enough to keep it hidden from the media.

Officer Adachi, too, is extremely lenient on them and they wonder if it is because they are Dojima Ryoutarou’s “nephew” that makes him so easygoing and more likely to try and protect Yu – or maybe it even has something to do with witness protection or… whatever. They don’t really know the laws that well. They rub the back of their neck, sigh, and then turn away.

They have grocery shopping to do today, and them spending time just pondering over recent events isn’t going to make the groceries just magically appear in the household now.

* * *

The weekend arrives slowly and they call Chie to ask how Yukiko is doing. _“She’s fine,” _Chie says, her voice extremely absent and distant, her unusual energy lacking even as she tries to chirp the words out, _“her mom says that she’s going to probably come back some time in the middle of next week… she’s going to take over the Amagi inn again so that… Yukiko… yeah, Yukiko can catch a break…”_

“Oh, I see.” Yu says, and they have to bite their tongue not to ask if anything is wrong; if this is a conversation they need to have with her then the two of them can’t have it when they are speaking over the phone, “thank you. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. Are you going to visit Konishi-san soon?”

Silence greets them for a hot minute, Chie being quiet to the point of almost numbing Yu inside and out, and she then sputters and lets out a confused _“huh?” _on the question. Yu repeats what they ask, and Chie lets out a soft ‘oh’ before she says, _“uh. Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna visit Saki-senpai with Yosuke soon. She’s been recovering well, but she seems to have taken it worse than us. I wonder why…”_

“Take care, Chie-san.” Yu says, cutting her off abruptly, but she doesn’t seem to care as she just murmurs a ‘see ya’ then hangs up immediately after. They put their ancient phone away, next to their almost done homework, and then create a hand-bridge underneath their chin to rest it on. They stare at their cell phone, not reacting when Yosuke sends them a text asking for help on a specific homework question, and instead they focus on the buttons of their phone.

They help Yosuke with homework after they are done with their own, mostly texting him about the questions and answers and managing to somehow send him pics despite their substandard phone quality. It is after they are done helping Yosuke that they stumble upon the picture of him slamming himself crotch-first into the pole, their first time ever seeing him in the flesh, and they stare at it for a bit longer. Though their phone is old, it is just as capable of having a wallpaper as any other phone and an idea hits them.

Unthinkingly, and almost automatically, they set Yosuke’s humiliation as their phone background. They stare at their phone, their mind wandering away from the image of Yosuke and instead to everything that is happening… and maybe they are imagining it, but Chie seems off lately. Maybe it is something else? They don’t know her that well, but they have always seen her at her most energetic. She isn’t the one to have to leave the TV world after confronting herself either – at least, not this time. So is… they shake their head.

_‘I’m just tired.’ _Yu thinks, aggravated, before they put their phone down and then pack away all of their school supplies. _‘I’m just so very, very tired.’_

* * *

Today is a day that they have all to themselves – Chisato doesn’t need anything from them today and she is currently spending time with Nanako at the park now that her workday is over, so Yu takes this as an opportunity to spend some time on their own. The sky is lovely today, no rain or fog to worry about, and they take advantage of the nice weather just to aimlessly wander around the market district. People are busy as usual at this time in the afternoon, with teenagers and children hanging around and being mischief-makers while adults and elderly spend their time shopping or taking a walk. Yosuke and Chie isn’t with them today, mostly due to the fact that they don’t even bother contacting the two of them because they just want a moment to breathe and relax.

Chie is being weird, as well – they need to talk to her properly, later, instead of avoiding the confrontation. They run their hand through their short hair, inhales heavily out through their nose, exhale out of their mouth, and then shakes their head. Goosepimples rise on their neck from the cold air, their jacket not enough to stop all of the chill, and Yu huffs.

They don’t even notice that they are walking towards a strong, broad back until they end up bumping into the person and knocking them both to the ground. They let out a cry of surprise as they fall and land on their butt, their eyes wide and apologetic to the far larger person they bump into. They stare at the person’s back, eyes wide, and they open and close their mouth several times before pinching their nose.

“I’m really sorry about that.” Yu says when they stand up and walk around to offer the person their hand, and they pause when they realise a few things –

A: the person is blond – dyed, from what they can tell. Their roots are startlingly black.

B: the person is dressed like a punk, something out of place in sleepy old Inaba.

And C: the person has a lot of earrings. Yu is almost envious.

Still, they offer their hand to the unfortunate person they bump into and he looks up and slaps their hand away. To their own credit, they find themself unsurprised and unbothered by the rejection – they find themself further unresponsive even when the guy stands up to reveal himself as way taller than Yu, a glare on his face and scars covering his arms with one on his forehead. He looks to be a buff guy – someone who works out a lot and can handle himself in a fight – but he also looks young, perhaps someone in high school. They don’t recall seeing someone like this one at Yasogami high, and they know for sure that that is the only high school in the Inaba area. They just simply look up at him, tilt their head to the side, and resist the urge to fold their hands in front of them out of habit.

“Are you okay?” Yu asks when the other guy seems content to just glare and then look away when they speak up, grumbling something underneath his breath when he crosses his arms. “I’m sorry,” Yu tries again, “I didn’t hear what you said. Are you okay? Did you get any scrapes from the fall?”

“I said I’m fine!” a rough, delinquent voice says, sounding as deep as they assume it to, and they just nod and swipe a lone strand of hair out of their face. “Whaddaya starin’ at me for?” he barks out after, his chest puffing up while his eyes dart side to side, his face pinking a little. He straightens his shoulders up even more and stands taller, dwarfing Yu to the point that a sudden rush runs through them – there is a moment of anxiety that flies up to the surface, trying to get Yu to turn heel and run, but they swallow.

They don’t want to run, and Yu has dealt with their fair share of punks and delinquents who think they are hot shit from back in the city. They know how to deal with people who think they are better than the rest – and this guy before them isn’t even acting like the arrogant pieces of shits back there do. It makes them think, instead, of the ex-yakuza guy in the white suit and red shirt – he helps them once, shoving off all the “small fry” who try and accost Yu, and then waves goodbye to them without ever saying his name to them. Though that isn’t the last time they see him – he takes care of a little girl after quitting the yakuza business and admits that he, at some point, confesses to thinking of moving to Okinawa but decides against it.

He helps Yu learn how to fight people off if absolutely necessary, showing them how to use the other person’s body mass against them to overpower them, and he pats them on the back and says, “you’ll be safe. I have to go take care of my daughter now, but as long as I am around and you remember what I taught you, no man will harass you.”

The guy in front of them reminds them of that ex-yakuza, wherever he is now. They start to breathe – in and out, slow and steady, and eventually say, “I’m looking at you because I’m talking to you and I want to look at you.” Yu’s words are blunt and straight to the point, and seem to actually catch the guy off-guard. “Lemme introduce myself. I’m Narukami Yu. I didn’t mean to upset you or cause harm, I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry about that.”

“… ya ain’t scared of me?” the guy says in lieu of introducing himself back to Yu, and they find that little bit of surprise endearing. It makes him unwind, at the very least – he isn’t glaring openly at Yu anymore, though they still stand a bit more menacingly over them. The only thing they have to do is just focus on breathing and their own heartbeat. “… ah, whatever! Who cares if ya ain’t scared, shit.” he says loudly and directing at anyone but Yu. “Look, you better watch yourself. Ya ain’t gonna know what’s gonna happen t’ya if ya don’t pay attention, scrawny kid. Whatever. Gotta go, I don’t have time to waste with you.”

And just like that, the stranger turns on his heels and leaves Yu there as he stomps and marches away from them. They can hear him grumbling all the way from here and they immediately relax and start gasping, almost asthmatically, once he is out of sight. They have to fight back the urge to grasp at their chest from that encounter.

_‘It never gets easier, does it?’ _Yu thinks while they collect themself again. There is still a place they want to go to before they go back home and meet up with their friends again to talk about all that happens so far. They look back to where that guy stands prior, then up at the store that he stands in front of.

They blink. _‘A textile shop?’ _they stare up at the logo of the place, take in the old lady who comes in from the back and stands by her cash register, and they turn away. _‘What is a guy like him doing in front of… well, not my business.’_

* * *

Despite there being a door in the TV world, a dark blue door stands stark within a shaded alleyway. They take careful, slow steps into the alleyway and then stop before the door to the Velvet Room, wondering what others will see if they are to open the door and take a step in. They look behind them just to make sure no one is there before opening the door and stepping inside of the old, bizarre, and elegantly antique Velvet Room. Just as before, Pianist-san sits by and plays on the piano, fingers moving daintily and with skill across the keys.

The tune this time is oddly authoritative yet also soothing – a commanding piano piece that leaves them wondering what it is that it is trying to convey. The moods contradict with one another – a tense piece asking for cooperation, while also being disarming and soothing to the soul. Sweet, yet demanding.

Aside from Pianist-san, Belladonna is at her usual spot as well. Her eyes are closed and her hands fold in front and on her dress – her chest does not rise or fall with her breathing, if she even is at all. The two lone strands of hair curl perfectly upwards, leading down towards her shocking head of hair while her head itself bows downwards. She looks almost like a statue in the middle of the room, giving to it an uncannily elegant aura.

Igor greets them as per usual, with his endlessly grinning face and his big, wide eyes. His nose perches atop his intertwined fingers. Naoya sits on the lone armchair, with his legs crossed and one arm resting upon his leg while the other sits on his crossed knee, his palm acting as a bridge for his chin. They take a few more steps in and Igor beckons them over, indicating to the sofa across from them to sit. “And what can I do to help you, Narukami-sama?”

“You called me Narukami-san at the start,” Yu says, “can you please go back to that? And… can anyone else see the door to the Velvet Room? It’s out in the open, and…”

Igor unlinks one hand to bring it up and stop Yu in their place. “Please do not worry, Narukami-san,” Igor begins, “no one but those capable of summoning their demons and personas, those who have been selected, or those who have been touched by the world of the self can see the door to the Velvet Room.” they make sure to mentally catalogue the ‘world of the self’ phrase for later. “As well, please do not worry about people seeing you disappear. The magic of this place will simply make them forget they saw you until you leave the Velvet Room once more.”

“Thank you for clearing that up for me. Do you mind if I ask another question, then?”

“Feel free to ask me whatever it is that you wish to know, but I give no guarantee that I will be able to answer such questions.”

Well, they already know that – but even still, knowing that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. “Konishi Saki,” they begin, and Naoya seems to actually take interest in the conversation this time, “we saved her, but she took it worse than the rest of us. She’s in the hospital and I think she’ll be out in at least another few weeks. Does she have a persona too? Is she going to die?”

“She won’t die.” Naoya says immediately, before Igor can get a word in edgewise. “I have to emphasize this for you – unless specifically, actually killed, no one can die from simply being in the demon realm. She’s just recovering from being there without the conduit to balance it.”

Igor chuckles. “Yes, as master Naoya stated, you were not there to balance out the effects of the shadow confrontation. She is merely exhausted from having to deal with such a thing all alone, but fret not Narukami-san – you need not blame yourself. Not all who confront their vestigial selves need be persona-users for the cause.”

“Then… she’ll be fine? And she doesn’t have a persona because… I… wasn’t there?”

“Yes and no,” Igor says; he finally unfolds his hands and lets them rest down upon the sofa, “you are the conduit to which all personas shall be granted – as per your contract, of course. That is your duty. But it is already decided, by both you and one greater than you – than us all – who shall be persona summoners.”

_‘Does that mean that Yosuke sought me out that time out of an instinctive realisation that I’m necessary…? Did his persona… always exist?’_

They take in a deep breath. “What are personas?”

Igor chuckles once more, but not out of amusement. It sounds more like several rapid exhalations of air than anything else. “Yes, you asked this of master Naoya in your first meeting, did you not? It is best you figure out for yourself what a persona is. That is my belief.”

“And before you ask,” Naoya says, interjecting himself into the conversation, “we cannot tell you why you are the only one capable of summoning demons as well as your persona, whereas your companions cannot. Well, at least not yet. Any other questions?”

Yu looks up and away from Naoya. They have a million questions jumping around in their head, so many things to ask – but instead, they stop, take deep breaths, and settle on excusing themself while thanking the two of them for their time. The piano music comes to a halt just mere seconds before they take a step outside. They don’t get to hear the next piece that plays.

The day is beautiful, but it ends with Yu having more questions than answers.


	13. Chapter 11

“Nothing’s been happening lately.” Yosuke says after inviting Yu out with him, Chie being conspicuously absent for this outing even though Yukiko is with them. She smiles crookedly and bizarrely when Yu asks her where Chie is, and she merely says that she ‘can’t make it’. There is a quick flash of sadness on her face before she schools her expression back to normal. “We’ve got Yukiko-chan back, so does that mean that the dude gave up after we managed to save two people…?”

Yu shrugs. Yukiko sits next to them instead of Yosuke, her hands folding on her lap. “How are you?” Yu asks a bit awkwardly, and Yukiko smiles at them to try and disarm their discomfort. They try not to flush from the mortification of how stilted their voice sounds. “I have not seen you since you came back. Are you recovering well?”

“You don’t need to be so formal,” Yukiko says absently, “but I’m fine now. I’m not tired anymore, and I don’t have to work at the inn anymore now that my mother’s back to work. I’m glad, I was missing a lot of class.” she smiles and nods at Yu when they furrow their brows, her lips barely curling upwards to show even the tiniest bit of joy. They open their mouth and immediately close it, unable to think of anything else to say to Yukiko that feels appropriate. “C’mon, let’s go to Junes. There’s some stuff I want to buy for myself before I go back home – and maybe I’ll get something for Chie, too, for maybe a belated thanks for saving me.”

Yosuke snorts and throws his arms up in the air, stretching his back. “What? Ain’t’cha gonna get anythin’ for me and Yu-kun?”

“I don’t need anything,” Yu says.

“Shut up, yes you do.”

Yu blinks slowly. “I could use a new pencil.”

That stops both Yukiko and Yosuke in their tracks. They turn around to stare at Yu, with Yosuke squinting his eyes at them as though trying to figure out if they are being serious or not. They are. They attempt to establish a psychic link with Yosuke to let him know they are very much serious, but the try fails and they are unable to tell Yosuke without speaking the sheer weight of their words.

“A pencil.” Yosuke says when Yu doesn’t say anything to prove otherwise that they are joking, or anything of the ilk. “I’m trying to get her to buy stuff for us and all ya can think about… issa pencil?”

“We are students,” Yu says sagely, “why wouldn’t I need a new pencil?”

“He has a point, Yosuke-kun,” Yukiko says with clear, exaggerated awe, “we all need new pencils. I’ll buy you a really pretty pencil with a pony at the end, and we can match that way!”

Yosuke groans so loudly and for so long that his voice almost converts into that of a howling demon, reminding them of the TV world. Yu eventually pinches Yosuke by the ear and, using sheer strength, drags him yelling and kicking through Junes to buy some pencils.

They make sure to buy Yosuke many pretty, childish pencils as to cause him more grief and Yukiko tries not to snicker, even with her eyes as dull as they are and the shadows on her eyelids a deep, near purple in hue.

* * *

It rains near the end of the day, but stops just before it strikes midnight. They wait, regardless, and then they jolt and nearly fall off their bed when the TV world… starts _playing. _They hold themself up on their bed as a yellow light shines over their exhausted countenance, their body struggling to stay awake. They peer and peer at the TV, waiting for anyone to appear, and they lean closer when they finally witness the shape of something.

The figure on the TV is… murky, unclear, and Yu frowns. They slink off of their bed and creep closer, their fingers stroke along the glass front of the TV, and they lay their palm flat on the surface and push. The screen beneath them is smooth, undamaged by the force and unmoving, and the person in the television is still distorted.

A long, droning sound suddenly breaks through the silent atmosphere of the room and Yu nearly trips backwards and falls onto their rump. They stare at the person in the TV and bite their lower lip to hold back a gasp when the silhouette presses its hands up against the screen. It moves its ‘head’ around, then bashes it against the screen as unintelligible noises leave it.

_“AAaaAHHHKKkkKKKKKhhZZzkHHHHkKKKKHHHhyYYyYYyYYYyYYYyYYY^^^^%$%%$$$%%4. %(**^$@%$@)^(#(^*%*^*(@%)$@%)$@. NNNNnNNNNnAAAAAKKKKhhhHHZZZYyYyYY. **HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!**”_

Blackness takes over the screen. Yu passes out in front of the TV and knocks awake when their head, thuds, painfully against the floor. They drag themself over to their bed and curl underneath the blanket, trying to get over the ache in their head as a result of… whatever it is that transpires. Do they need to tell the rest of what happens here?

… no, no. They will wait for the gang to bring what happens up themselves, than for Yu to embarrass themself in front of the rest like that in case nothing happens at all. They shiver underneath their blanket.

They wake up with unpleasantness dragging at their neck and no memory of what happens last night. They stare up at the ceiling, feeling emptier than before, and take in deep breaths. They wake up too early in the morning. The midnight channel is ruining their sleep schedule. They need to take it easy. They are…

* * *

Tomorrow starts with them dropping Nanako off, as always. She jumps up to hug them for a bit and Yu holds onto her for a little while. “What’s wrong?” they ask after she lets go and they gently put her back down onto the walkway, their concern only worsening when she looks down bashfully. “Is something happening at school, Nanako-san?”

“I… I had a bad dream, but I didn’t want to tell mommy.” she says, “because… because I dreamed she went away forever, and that I didn’t have her or a daddy and…” she rubs at her eyes as she speaks, and Yu takes her into their arms again. “Fank fyu.” she says against their uniformed shoulder, before she backs away and rubs at her eyes again.

They run their fingers through her hair. “Don’t be scared to talk to Chisato-san about anything, okay? I have to go now, but remember that Chisato-san is always there for you.” Nanako nods then waves goodbye at them and Yu waves and watches her until she disappears from sight. They turn around, check their phone, and see that Yosuke sends them a message saying he will be a little late but will arrive to class on time. Honest.

Rubbing the back of their neck, Yu begins to head towards the school – which is still only a small distance away from where they are right now – and then come to a stop when they notice Yukiko and Chie nearby. The two of them don’t seem to notice Yu, most likely due to the tree that obscures them just enough as they walk by, and they blink when they see the position Yukiko and Chie are in.

Chie has her fingers around Yukiko’s wrist, the one that isn’t holding her briefcase, and Yu immediately looks and scurries away from where they are. This isn’t their business, and if Chie and Yukiko need to talk then they will leave the two of them to it.

* * *

She trembles in front of Yukiko, her grip around her wrist shaky and not as tight as it can be – she knows how strong Chie is, has been with her through her practice and exercising, her attempts at staying fit and better than the boys, a point she keeps reiterating. She looks down at where Chie holds onto her, her grip loosening even further until she finally lets go and drops her hand to her side.

“… I…” Chie begins, words jumping into her throat, and she closes her eyes tightly. “I – I don’t – I don’t hate you!” she almost yells out, her hands flying up to her mouth, and she breathes in and out deeply. Yukiko reaches out to her but Chie tenses up, eyes wide and surprised. Yukiko freezes, her hand just centimetres away from Chie’s, and they stare at one another.

She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, looks down at her own hand as she brings it back towards herself, and then looks back up at Chie who stares at her guilt darkening her gaze. “… I know you don’t hate me,” Yukiko says softly, though that only causes Chie to bunch up even further into herself, “has this been… this must’ve been hard for you.”

“No!” Chie cries out, her voice warbling and tight, “you – you have it way worse than I do, I just – you confessed to me, I don’t… I – can we just be friends again? I just want us to talk again but it’s so hard and I’m! I don’t why I’m like this! I don’t know! I… I… augh!” she turns away from Yukiko and runs off, leaving her to her lonesome. She stares down at her briefcase, clasps the handle with both hands now, and bows her head down.

She swallows the lump in her throat down. She has class to go to…

* * *

The day is awkward. Yukiko and Chie can’t seem to look at each other, as they freeze up whenever they both meet eyes. When school finishes, they just run off with half-hearted excuses and unhappy, tense faces. Yu doesn’t know the two of them well enough to really make a comment and Yosuke just looks too tired to deal with either of them. He watches the girls leave with his hands in his pockets and his head bobbing to the music of his headphones that sit around his neck. He taps his foot while swaying in spot to the rhythm of the beat.

“Shouldn’t we go look for Chie-san and Yukiko-san to make sure they are okay?” Yu asks when Yosuke seems content to just stand outside of the classroom and listen to his music than to do anything else.

“I don’t think bargin’ in like that’s gonna help either of them,” Yu says, though he yawns in the middle of the sentence and stretches his arms, “they’ve got their own issues and we kinda can’t be expected to fix ‘em. And, I’uhno, I just… wanna leave them to it. If they won’t tell us, leave ‘em to it?”

Yu looks over to where they last see the two girls, then lean back against the wall next to Yu much to his bemusement. They look up at Yosuke who peers down at them curiously, having to crane his neck a little due to Yu being shorter than him.

“You still worried?” Yosuke asks a few moments later and Yu hums, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Yosuke seems to take it as an agreement, however. “I’m being really honest when I say this, just give ‘em time.” Yosuke reaches over to pet Yu’s shoulder, squeezing it gently then quickly letting go. “Chie-chan and Yukiko-chan probably need some time to talk stuff out after what happened last time. S’not easy to have your best friend learn things ‘bout you that you didn’t want ‘em to learn.”

When Yosuke puts it that way… Yu can definitely understand. Their old school hangs like scars on their skin, words biting their way through and into their own heart to chew it up and spit it out. They know better now, and they will go through any steps necessary to try and conceal the truth from their new friends as much as possible.

Yet, for how long is a secret going to remain a secret when a newfound world threatens to expose it all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully we will get to Kanji soon.


	14. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **edit:** fixed a continuity error

Their homework is done already – they twirl their pen between their fingers, failing the trick near immediately and they drop it onto the floor instead thanks to their clumsiness. It is late evening by the time they are done, just a little after school and club activities are over, and Yu stares up at the ceiling of their home.

Adachi Tohru is visiting again. They can hear his voice downstairs, making Nanako laugh and Chisato seems to be silent. They sit at their desk for a little while longer before eventually pushing themself away from their table, their notebook sitting open and glaring at them with their own handwriting, and they quickly throw on a loose shirt and make their way downstairs.

Though they are wearing shorts they assume nothing will be wrong. Their socked feet barely make any noise as they make their way down the stairs and they are greeted with the sight of Adachi smiling at Nanako sitting on his lap, ruffling her hair before he looks up to see Yu.

“Yo, Yu-kun.” he says with a lopsided, toothy grin, “ ‘bout time you came downstairs to visit us normal folk. What kinda student just spends their immediate time back home studying, huh?” he pokes at Nanako’s cheek, making her giggle, “don’t be anything like your cousin, got it? He’s a big ol’ stick in the mud.”

“Yu-kun’s the best,” Nanako protests, “I think it’s super cool that he studies as hard as he does.”

Adachi snorts, glaring up at Yu. “Look, you’ve already corrupted her. What’s wrong with you?”

“Could you have the news play, Yu-kun?” Chisato says before they can say anything else and they blink as they pad their way over to the group. “I’d ask Adachi-san, but I know he won’t do it. Nanako, keep him distracted.”

Nanako bounces on his lap and makes Adachi oof out in surprise, her arms thrown upwards and he has to duck his head back to avoid being double-punched by tiny fists. “Of course! Operation, distract Adachi-kun, is a go!”

“Hey, hey, you lil’ brat!” Adachi complains, “don’t you dare play the ne-”

Yu dives in next to him, grabs the remote, and whirls around dramatically and clicks on the remote. They pause for a second. Then clicks again when they find the right button. Adachi face palms.

“Good going, kiddo.”

“Don’t make fun of my cousin!”

“Hey!”

Yu ignores them to instead focus on the news, their attention shifting fully onto the TV as the news reporter appears. The woman is different than the man who initially interviews Yukiko, especially with the fact that she seems far more professional as she approaches…

Wait.

_‘That’s the delinquent I ran into.’ _they think idly while they idle over to Adachi and sit next to him, ignoring the officer as he eyes them curiously. He may not have seen many ‘boys’ wear shorts as short as Yu’s wearing. They try to ignore his questioning gaze. It isn’t as if they wear these types of shorts outside, but still – something about his stare makes them flush with shame.

“Do you know that boy on TV?” Yu points as the interview with the poor guy begins, his face conveying his confusion and surprise as he gets approached and interviewed about something clearly unrelated to him, some sort of accusation about him being in a gang. “Is he really in a gang?”

Adachi lifts and moves Nanako to his opposite side, ruffling her hair as he does. “Nah,” he says, “most kid does is sometimes spray graffiti on the wall or pick fights with other jerks who hang out in front of the cloth store, you know the one? For tailoring and stuff? That one.”

“Huh.” They lean back onto their palms behind them as they watch TV, the boy – Tatsumi Kanji – struggles to answer any of the questions and loses his temper a few times.

“Pretty obvious why, too. Owner of the shop is his mom.” They look at Adachi with wide eyes and he chuckles when he catches sight of their face. “Yeah, yeah, big plot twist, huh? Kid’s actually misunderstood, or something. I dunno, just know that we keep getting calls on him and his mom keeps begging us, and plenty of people on the force got hearts too big for themselves.”

Yu brings their knees up to their chest and wraps their arms around their legs, chin resting on their knees. “That’s sweet of you guys.”

“Sure,” Adachi holds Nanako’s hand and squeezes gently, giving her a smile not so dissimilar from a proud dad looking at his daughter, “I think the kid just needs some friends to set him straight. Maybe he’ll find some someday. You know, he goes to your school too.”

They just stare at the TV, taking in the boy’s clearly uncomfortable body language, and then look away and over to Adachi. He smiles kindly at Yu. Their heart twists and tightens up and they look away soon after. “Maybe I’ll meet up with him?” they shrug.

“Maybe, kid.”

He stays over for dinner when Chisato serves it, talking animatedly to her about some sort of TV drama that he’s been watching, something that sounds boring and adult and something not for Nanako or them. Though, they are technically an adult, aren’t they? They’re going to be nineteen next week, marking them a little older than everyone else.

They finish quickly and instead busy themself with Nanako, playing patty cakes with her until Adachi announces that he’s going to leave.

“You never drink anymore,” they hear Adachi say after coming downstairs from putting Nanako to bed and they linger on the stairs, hidden away from both Chisato and Adachi, “getting a kid made you a better person, huh?”

“Nanako doesn’t need a drunk mom,” she says gently, “even if I didn’t drink that much. I don’t want to influence her to drink, nor even be curious about it.”

Adachi huffs out a soft chuckle, “Dojima-san wouldn’t have done that.”

Silence follows after that. Adachi chuckles a little bit after, though it sounds forced and awkward this time. “Sorry, didn’t mean to—”

“He’s dead now,” Chisato interjects, “but I don’t know what he’d have done if I died instead. Maybe we shouldn’t think about something like that right now? I don’t want to think about Ryoutarou.”

“Yeah,” Adachi says, then, “goodnight, Chisato-chan. It was nice to see you again, like always.”

“And you, too, Adachi-kun, thank you for being kind to Nanako throughout all these years.”

They retreat back up into their room after that exchange.

* * *

It doesn’t rain tonight, meaning that they can’t watch the Midnight Channel to see if anything happens. They are tempted to, for a second, to try anyway, but exhaustion wins over and they just end up going to bed in the end and letting themself drift into a dream void of the Velvet Room. Though now that they can visit whenever they suppose that having dreams of the room isn’t necessary anymore.

Chie and Yukiko seem to be faring better, though the former still seems a little more awkward around the latter who just smiles with defeat, as if she knows that this is going to take some time – whatever ‘this’ is. Yosuke comes up as usual, as if nothing has happened to cause the two girls to have such an odd rift between them.

The day goes by as usual, though Yu finds themself drifting in the classes that aren’t run by King Moron. History class, however, has them being quite attentive – especially when the teacher has been so nice to them the entire time, and PE is stranger now knowing that the teacher there too is similar to them.

_‘How can they blend in so well?’ _Yu thinks. They don’t pursue that line of thought anymore, and instead trail along after Yu, Chie, and Yukiko when classes are done and over and the day is done with. Yukiko is enjoying her break to the fullest, meaning that she can actually hang out with the rest of them.

By the time all is said and done, Chie is back to her usual loud self who bounces off of Yosuke with no problems, and Yukiko is back to being polite but fun-loving. Yu feels almost out of place until Chie grabs them by the elbow and yanks them forward, yelling about how Yu is more princely than Yosuke, which then leads to a long and extended argument about how Yosuke is VERY prince like, thank you very much.

Yu keeps it to themself that they will rather be the gender-neutral princess-knight than to leave everything to the prince. Maybe they can even work side by side with the prince and slay whatever evil plagues their land. They don’t know. They really, really do not know.

They’re tired.

“You know, that boy on TV the other day?” Chie says abruptly, when they arrive at Junes and sit down, Yosuke returning with their foot shortly after.

“What, the punk kid?” he asks.

“Yeah! Yeah.” Chie rubs her chin, “we used to know him last year, remember? He was our kouhai -- it's so weird to see him on TV again as a delinquent. Do you think he’s a bad guy?”

“Oh, Tatsumi. I’uhno?” Yosuke shrugs, “he looks like a bad guy, I mean – weren’t they accusing of him being part of one of the gangs that’ve been causing trouble lately?”

Yukiko twirls a strand of her hair around her index, her other hand gripping her suitcase lazily, “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Yosuke-kun.” She says after a little bit of time, “you should know better than to do that.”

“Yikes, yikes, Yukiko-chan,” Yosuke winces, “okay, maybe you’re right, but it’s not like we’ve dealt with his shadow to know what he’s even like.”

Chie taps her chin for a little bit, then says, “do you think he’ll be in the shadow world?” and Yu looks up at her curiously, “the reason why I was in the TV world was because I followed after Yukiko, then the reason why Yosuke-kun was in the TV was because he followed after Konishi-senpai, who was seen on TV.”

“You said TV so many times I think it’s lost meaning.” Yosuke comments. He gets a thwacking on the head for that.

“Ow!”

“I think I understand what Chie-san is getting to.” Yu says softly, “but I didn’t expect her to be the one to bring it up.”

There is a bit of silence, then says, “what?” she is ignored.

“Maybe we should ask Naoya-san?”

“… who?” Yukiko says.

“Maybe now’s a good time to take Yukiko-chan to the Velvet Room.”

They all finish up eating first, though Yu spends most of their time thinking back to the exchange between Adachi and Chisato from last night, eating very little due to their small appetite. They pawn their food off to Yosuke instead of Chie, who complains when they do that but Yosuke claims it to be something about bro code, or whatever.

For some reason, they can’t bring themself to care. They really can’t bring themself to care.

* * *

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Igor’s deep voice echoes within the room as Yu opens the door and Yukiko gasps audibly from behind them as they step out from the real world and out into the Velvet Room. Naoya sits upon the armchair, more like laying within it – his legs drape lazily from the side and his back is arched upon the other arm, documents hanging loosely from his hand on the floor. “How may we help you?” Igor asks, and Yukiko scurries past everyone else to instead take the room in its full glory.

Pianist-san is playing on the piano, fingers moving precisely upon the keys. Belladonna sings as she does, voice strong and intense. Igor sits at his sofa as he is wont to do, hands forming a bridge beneath his chin while Naoya pointedly ignores his guests.

“We have a question to ask Naoya-san,” Yu says sweetly, and Naoya curses when he hears his name and he sits up properly, the documents being set onto the table and he stretches, “did we come at a bad time?”

“There’s no bad time in the Velvet Room.” Pianist-san says. They think Pianist-san has a point. “Existence is always endless here. There is no beginning, nor end, except for when humanity has all but been wiped out.” The tune that Pianist-san is playing on the piano changes abruptly when Pianist-san’s fingers slam down onto the keys and then begin to play something else.

Belladonna ceases her singing to instead hum. They have to bring a hand to their eyes and rub them, wondering why it is that this music makes their heart sting so much. “You wanted to ask a question?” Naoya says, obviously bored, and he rests his elbows on his knees while his chin sits on his palms.

“… Do you think you can answer questions about the TV world?” they ask instead of bringing the topic outright, “we think we understand why certain people are being thrown into the shadow world…”

Naoya looks at them blankly, before he brings his hand up to run it through his hair and he sighs. “No.” he says blankly and Yu blinks. Chie cries out in dismay and Yukiko slams her hand onto Yosuke’s mouth to keep him silent. “There’s someone greater and stronger than me who makes the rules, and whatever you think you know about the shadow world isn’t what you really know.

“Besides, these shadows aren’t… it doesn’t matter.” He shakes his head. “No matter what questions you have for me, I can’t answer them if it’s about certain things. How people are chosen is one of them… not until he decides to come down and answer your questions for you. I can talk to you about the place’s limited history, or about how to fight them better, or what you can do to make even stronger demons… but not why some people are being chosen.”

They stay for tea when Igor offers it, Yukiko’s eyes wide with curiosity but her shyness making it impossible for her to ask anything. Yosuke keeps trying to pester Belladonna to talk to him, but she pointedly ignores him and continues on with singing. Chie can’t seem to get Pianist-san to acknowledge her either if it is for anything other than the Velvet Room or whatever catches Pianist-san’s fancy.

“Did you only want to see me because you were focusing on the shadows?” Naoya asks airily, a smile dancing on his face as he looks at Yu – he is absolutely beautiful, eyes gentle and face so boyishly handsome. Even they have to admit that they are taken up by his charm, and so is Chie judging by how she keeps peeking at Naoya only to look away when he looks at her curiously.

Yukiko smiles sadly at the sight. Yu looks at the two of them curiously, but keep their questions to themself. “Maybe?” Yu says, though they can’t help but smile at Naoya as well. “It isn’t as if you are a friend, Naoya-san.”

He shrugs, the smile still dancing on his full lips. “You could think of me as one,” Naoya says with a hum, “but I suppose you’re not wrong. We’re from pretty different worlds – literally.” He snickers, then shakes his head. “Anyway, it’s best you guys be off now if you don’t want anything here, or don’t want to do anything to your demons or personas. Off with you.”

* * *

They separate from the group after that, waving goodbye at all of them before looking down at their phone to send a text to Chisato and ask if she needs anything while they are at the business district. They pass by Tatsumi Textiles, briefly taking in the delivery van sitting in front of the shop and they duly ask themself if the textile shop got new shipment.

_‘It isn’t really my business.’ _They think, and then find themself immediately distracted when the first telltale signs of rain happens and Chisato is sending them a message to just come back home. Running past the gas station that they initially arrive at, they come to a stutter when they see the gas station attendant looking up at the sky and smiling.

“Oh,” the attendant says when they catch sight of Yu again despite their best attempt to sneak away, “it’s you again. How’s Inaba been treating you?” their smile is wide and tense, almost straining their face from how much they smile. “It’s a boring place, isn’t it?” they look away and stare back up at the dark clouds gathering up in the sky, droplets of water falling at quicker speeds. “Have you been watching the Midnight Channel lately?”

They don’t understand, their bag coming up to protect them from the rain. An answer does not come, their throat tightening up painfully as they swallow the lump gathering within it. “You have been, haven’t you?” the attendant asks again with a heavy tone, as though they do not expect an answer, “you don’t have to have the crying sky to see it, you know. Only you, though. Only you.”

* * *

Home has never felt as cold as it does tonight, their window shut and their clothes long-sleeved and meant to keep them warm as cold wind still manages to filter in regardless. Their stomach tightens with each second that ticks by, their eyes on the alarm next to their bed as they wait, and wait, for the time to move on.

A minute becomes ten, becomes thirty, becomes an hour. They wait. And Wait. The clock hits a resounding midnight, the rain long since stopped. They slide out of their bed, their footsteps painfully quiet within the damning night, and they pad their way over to the tiny TV in their room. They wrap their arms around themselves and stare.

Their heart bursts in their chest.

Tatsumi Kanji looks around in the television, frailer and smaller, younger, with a lunchbox in his arms. He looks up towards Yu, his eyes meeting theirs, and the remains of their heart leaps up into their throat.

“I’m sorry.” The little boy says before he turns tail and runs, and following after him – appearing on the screen with wide-eyed confusion – is the actual Tatsumi Kanji. “The hell is that!” he screams, “the hell am I!? Anyone out there!? Fucking answer me if you are, you bastards! FUCK!” he rushes after where the little boy version of himself heads toward and the screen flickers black.

They take a step back, trip over nothing, and manage to cushion their fall onto their rump as the TV is off once more.

Eyes wide and skin going sickeningly pale, they can only stare at the television. How did the attendant know? How did they know? Their hand comes up to their throat when it gets scratchy, like a creeping sickness, and they fight back a cough. Scrambling, they check the weather predictions for tomorrow online before pressing a hand against their mouth.

They can’t let everyone else know what they know. Will the rest even believe them? Is that person really the gas station attendant from earlier?

Oh God.

Can demons leave the TV world?

There is going to be severe rain tomorrow. They’ll wait for everyone to watch the Midnight Channel before they bring up what happens and grab everyone’s interest. Only they can watch it? Is the attendant playing with them?

They breathe deeply and look over to their bed. They should probably just go to sleep now.


	15. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit:** Fixed a pronoun flub where I called Nanako a "his" instead of a "her".

“It’s going to rain today.” Yu says during lunch break as everyone converges onto the rooftop, offering to Yosuke some of the food they cooked before coming to school and his eyes light up with joy upon the sight of well-made and surprisingly warm food, “all the way to early morning tomorrow. We should probably watch the Midnight Channel.”

“You think so?” Yukiko asks curiously, “was that how you figured where I am? Well, I suppose that is pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it?” she bounces her leg while she thinks, eyes not focusing on her tofu and instead more on the sky, “does the Midnight Channel always have people on it? It can’t, can it?”

Chie kicks her foot in the air, crossing her arms after she sets her own food too the side. “Not always, I used to watch it some of the nights after we rescued Saki-senpai and Yukiko-chan, and there was nobody on the TV. Makes me wonder how the TV chooses who gets into it? And like, who’s doing it? Do you think someone’s throwing people into the TV?”

“Could be.” Yosuke says, elbows resting on his knees and hands forming a bridge beneath his chin, “it would make sense, right? Saki-senpai said something about not being able to see the face of her attacker. That means someone totally did it, right?”

For a damnable moment, they think back to the gas station attendant. They don’t know what to say, their words refusing to come out – what can they say about that?

_I think the creepy gas station attendant, who was constantly trying to shake my hand, is the reason behind why all of this is happening. I don’t know, maybe they said something utterly creepy to me to make me think that way._

But what basis do they have for that? The attendant is just creepy? How is that going to help the investigation, any? And are they even investigating? The only thing they’re all doing is reacting, yet at the very least they can save people, can’t they?

“Hey, hey, dude?” Yosuke says and Yu sits upright, eyes wide and staring into his when Yosuke stands in front of them, head tilted to the side, “you okay there? You suddenly went super pale and started sweating. You getting sick, partner?”

“Partner?” they ask dumbly.

Yosuke smiles slightly at them, as though trying to soothe a frightened animal – they can feel Yukiko and Chie’s stare on their person and they wipe the back of their hand on their forehead to wipe the sweat away, “yeah, partner. You and I are partners, bud, partners in crime.”

“I – I see.” They stutter out and no one says anything about it, though Chie does sit next to them and awkwardly pats their shoulder. They just eat quietly while the other three begin to theorize about who or what it could be that is doing all of this – the entire time, their thoughts are plagued with the possibility of the fact that the gas station attendant may be dangerous and they are keeping secrets. But what can they say to the rest of them? What can they say?

* * *

It is when they are about to leave that Yukiko calls out to them – “Yu-san? Wait up!” she jogs over to them and they look over their shoulder and watch her as she approaches them, “hey, are you okay? You looked really sick earlier.”

“Oh,” they shrug, “I’m fine, I was just thinking about something.”

Yukiko pauses to ponder to herself for a moment, even as she follows after Yu while they walk through the hallway. They can hear people whispering about the fact that Yukiko and them look like some sort of school power couple together as they walk, boys envious and girls angry. Girls swoon over them, as usual, and they try to hide their discomfort. They rub at their own face and they can feel Yukiko’s gaze on them.

“Do you not like it when people talk about you?” she asks. Yu looks at her helplessly and Yukiko just smiles, looking more embarrassed than anything else. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked, I know, but – you just don’t look… okay. You don’t look okay today.”

“… I don’t know,” Yu says, trying not to think back to all the time people talk behind their backs in their old school, their heart tightening to the point of bursting in their chest, “it’s… strange? I guess. You’re very popular, after all, Yukiko-san.”

Her expression smooths out, looking utterly blank, and she stares at them so intensely they feel their chest tightening up from the anxiety. “I suppose so,” she says, “but it isn’t nice to be popular, is it?”

“No,” they look ahead, “no, no it isn’t.”

* * *

They don’t join any of the three on their way to Junes as they instead want to focus on getting an essay done as quickly as possible, and then they have a chance to do their translation job today. Though their English isn’t the best, they know enough to be able to figure out how to at the very least do rather amateurish translations from Japanese to English. Their parents, however, are extremely fluent in English – and German, for that matter.

Mom knows how to speak Cantonese, and dad knows Mandarin. They often work together when they have Chinese business partners at any point. They send their parents a few texts today, asking them if they are doing well, and they both promise to send Yu emails with pictures of Germany to let them know what it looks like.

_‘I miss you.’ _They text out.

_‘we missy ou too hony! we always do”_

Their phone dings with a new notification from Yosuke, a simple text, really:

_‘midnght chnl, y/n?’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘kk. call u whn i watch it.’_

_‘Okay.’_

They set their phone aside and begin working on homework and then work. Later on, they leave their room to go into Nanako’s and help her out with her homework.

* * *

Adachi is at their home again, leaning on the counter within the kitchen, and Yu keeps looking between him and Chisato – the latter is smiling as she always does, pouring some tea for Adachi after he asks for beer, and he snorts. “Hello, Adachi-san,” they say upon coming downstairs with Nanako’s hand in theirs, her asking for it after they finish helping her with their homework, “it’s good to see you again.”

“Hello, Adachi-kun!” Nanako calls out excitedly, letting go of their hand to immediately run over to Adachi and hug him – or at the very least, his legs, and he moves away from the counter to immediately bend down and hug her back, “you’re here again! But – but don’t you have to work? Mommy says your work is super important, don’t you have to go back?” she asks rapidly, eyes wide with curiosity and adoration, something that causes Adachi’s face to soften before he inhales sharply and gives her a shaky smile.

He ruffles her hair, “yes, it’s very important, but I’m here with you guys right now because I’m done for the day. Right, Chisato-chan?”

“Mhm, Adachi-kun.” Chisato pours more tea when Yu approaches and hands it over to them wordlessly after pouring milk into their tea. “Be good, okay, Nanako? I’m going to go out and very quickly buy us some sweets to enjoy our tea.”

“Do you want any help, auntie? It’s raining a lot –”

“No, no, I’m fine. Yu-kun, you stay with Adachi-kun and Nanako.”

They wave her off after she leaves, leaving them alone with Nanako and Adachi – the former tugging at Adachi’s pant leg so that she can get him to watch cartoons with her and he acquiesces and joins her soon after. They stand in the kitchen and sip their tea, watching the two of them talk and play around a little bit.

Adachi looks relaxed, his hand ruffling Nanako’s hair and messing it up to the point that she has to take her hair ties off and struggles to do her pig tails again. Yu joins them quick to help Nanako out, smiling at her gently as they do. “Would you like anything from the fridge? The grocery store’s pretty far away from here and it always takes auntie some time…”

“You gonna cook for us, kid?” Adachi asks while hugging Nanako as she sits on his lap, eyes wide and eagerly taking in the spectacle on TV. “Won’t we be too full for sweets, then?”

“… no,” they twiddle their thumbs awkwardly, “I’m not going to cook. I just wanted to know if you wanted some milk, instead of tea.” They don’t know why Adachi’s stare makes them sink into themself, but it does and they look away from him. “What about you, Nanako-chan? Would you like some orange juice?”

Nanako jumps on Adachi’s lap, making him oof loudly from her weight. “Yes!” she almost yells out, extremely excited. Adachi stares at them the entire time, making the hairs on the back of their neck stand up at edge. He speaks up when they give Nanako her juice, “y’know, that Tatsumi kid? He went missing.”

“… he did?” they ask quietly, already aware of that fact, “do you think he ran away from home?”

Adachi shakes his head, “nah, don’t think so. Kid loves his own mom too much to run away, and we know him better than that. You’re new here, so you probably don’t know, but he did go to juvy before and came back slightly better. He’s still got massive anger issues, but the kid’s got a good heart.” He ruffles Nanako’s hair, but not too badly that they have to retie her pigtails again. “We think he was kidnapped again, similar to Amagi Yukiko and Konishi Saki’s cases. Problem is, we don’t know when he was kidnapped – apparently, he’s prone to leaving late at night and being home the next day. Y’know, I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

They swallow the lump in their throat down. “Oh,” they offer, not able to say anything else to that.

“But, I trust you. You seem pretty mature for your age, and you probably won’t get me in trouble or something.” He gives Yu an odd smile. They thank him meekly at the exact same time that Chisato comes home with takeout instead of groceries, looking sheepish as she does but still giving them all something to eat.

Adachi smiles at them.

They do their best to smile back.

* * *

Waiting every night for midnight on the dot to be able to see the Midnight Channel is always the worst part, especially when they feel so damn tired but can’t go to sleep. They lay awake in bed, listening to music on their MP3 player at a high volume to stay awake. Curling on their side, they stare off into the distance while listening to indie rock music of bands they don’t know, introduced to them by friends they once have.

The association with the past doesn’t make the music any worse but it is hard to dissociate the songs from people who hurt them. They’re trying, though.

When the clock strikes midnight that is when the TV abruptly turns on thanks to them still staring at it from bed, and they scoot off of their bed and make way over to the TV. Static plays over for a little while, before abruptly and jarringly cutting to the usual yellow background that they have come to recognise.

A little boy stands there, black haired with greyed tips and wearing a pink shirt with white jeans – he holds what appears to be some sort of sewing kit in his hands, clutched tightly to his chest as though a shield from the world around him. **_“What’s wrong with me?” _**the little boy asks, eyes cast downwards, and Yu takes in a deep breath, **_“is what I’m doing wrong? I shouldn’t be doing this anymore? Why? Why am I wrong?_**

** _“I don’t… why won’t they leave me alone? Why won’t they all leave me alone… I just want everyone to go away…” _ **

Tears well up in the little boy’s eyes, but he is quick to turn heel and run away when he realises he is about to cry. Yu stares, confused for a moment, before they manage to see Kanji trying to run after the boy from a distance, his silhouette growing smaller and smaller until he is completely off of the screen.

Their phone rings and they are quick to answer it, their MP3 player sprawling onto the floor while music continues to play.

_“Was that Tatsumi Kanji?” _Yosuke immediately asks before Yu can even say anything, then he breaks out into explanations before Yu can even comment, _“oh, right, sorry, you probably don’t know him like me and Chie-chan and Yukiko-chan do. He was our kouhai, y’know, last year – then he disappeared for the second half of the school semester but still passed somehow. He was missing for the entire Summer, cause he went to juvenile… whatever it’s called.”_

“… oh.” They say softly, their gaze back on the black screen of the TV, “I saw him on the news. I hope he’ll be fine.”

_“Me too, dude. I’ll call Chie-chan and Yukiko-chan after you tell me when you wanna do this, partner?”_

“Um.” Being called his partner makes them feel a bit, maybe a lot, embarrassed, and they kind of blame it almost entirely on the fact that they don’t feel adequate enough for any of this, “we can go check it out on Sunday,” they say after a bit of deliberation, “I think that would be for the best – we’ll all meet up at Junes and talk our plan out, then we can meet up with Teddie and see if he knows anything.”

Yosuke says his goodbyes afterwards and hangs up. Yu puts their own phone away, stops the music on their MP3 player, then go through their folders on the little thing until they find the one with all the ocean sounds. They use that to go to sleep this night, their dreams filled with images of being at the beach with their parents and smiling when they are little and wearing their prettiest, prettiest sky-blue dress.

_“You’re the most beautiful girl in the entire world,” _their parents say at the time.

_“You’re the prettiest girl in class.” _One of their classmates say in their memories.

They try not to linger on the second comment.


	16. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but I wanted to put it out nonetheless.
> 
> **Edit:** Fixed a typo from "enve" to "even". My bad.

They arrive at Junes earlier than everyone else and decide to use that as an opportunity to... simply sit down and stare off into the distance. Their hands rest on their lap, gaze vacant and blank – the ‘crew’ is supposed to meet up today to go into the TV world after watching the Midnight Channel two nights ago, which leads to them learning quite a bit about Tatsumi Kanji.

* * *

“He’s not really a bad person.” Yukiko says when they meet up yesterday after school, sitting a little closer to Chie than she does before – ever since they come back from her palace, those two have been quite weird with one another. It gives them a bit of comfort to see some sort of normalcy again, even if Yosuke just treats it like nothing happens. She looks chipper as well, better than before. Yu finds themself feeling happy for her.

Chie looks better as well – less shaky, but still uncertain for reasons they don’t have the right to know. “Yeah, I think - I think he’s just... sad about something. I don’t know what.” she says softly, her hands curling into fists atop her knees, “I think... I think – yeah, the Midnight Channel definitely made it seem that though, you’re not wrong.”

“Oh,” Yukiko says a bit absentmindedly, “no, no. I’ve met up with him several times because of the fact that I had to take over the inn several times – he works with his mother in the textile shop, which means him and I spoke to each other.”

Yosuke hums and rubs the back of his head, looking thoughtful. For once, he is quiet and isn’t all that talkative – it seems he rather prefer to let Yukiko talk than anything else. Yu stays quiet, as per usual. “He was really... dodgy when we first talked, really weird – he didn’t act out in front of his mom, and after he came back from juvy he was even quieter around me. He’s always very knowledgeable about everything I ask him and he doesn’t ever recommend anything low quality to us – but he’s always told me to keep this to myself, or at least say my mom recommended it and NOT him.”

“Why is that?” Yu asks innocuously.

To their right, Yosuke snorts derisively. “cause he’s gay.” he says bluntly and Yu’s head snaps up in confusion.

Chie tsks her tongue, “those are just _rumours. _And even if he’s – he’s homo, what’s wrong with that?”

“Don’t... not that word, Chie.” Yukiko corrects tiredly, so quiet that they almost miss it, and Chie retreats into herself. Yosuke doesn’t react to either of them, though he does seem to be staring intently at Chie who is busy staring at Yukiko apologetically.

“I don’t understand.”

Yosuke rolls his shoulders then says, “well, okay. I dunno if he’s like, really, really gay, or whatever, but like – there’s this rumour that he likes girly stuff, pansy stuff, and that he likes being in the boys changing room for a liiiittle too long, if y’know what I mean?”

“I don’t.” Yu says, if only because their heart is tightening up painfully from the mention of changing room. Anxiety creeps quickly into their heart and spreads all throughout their arteries and veins, slipping into capillaries as to disrupt the flow of red blood cells. “Was he being bullied? Maybe he didn’t want to come out of the boys room so that he could avoid being bullied.”

Yukiko is the one who speaks up before Yosuke does, “he was. He was being bullied. I know he was, because – because I saw it. I saw it once. I wanted to help but he saw me and he – he shook his head. He shook his head and I walked away.”

They stare at her. Her gaze drifts away from theirs. “If he was being bullied,” they try to say diplomatically, "then would it not make sense why he’s in the changing room for so long? It delays him having to talk to others. Maybe the teachers understood that.”

“Maybe.” Chie says doubtfully. “Maybe.”

“Heeeeey, actually, speaking of – are the first to third year PE teachers the same?”

“We only HAVE the one PE teacher, it’s why PE period is so random. I feel so, so sorry for that guy.” Chie sighs. “Why’re you asking?”

“Do you remember Disung?”

“Disung?” Yukiko asks.

“He was the Chinese transfer student who was here for like one semester because of some family stuff then went back home.”

“Oh, I remember him. He was very, very nice. What about him?”

“He said he saw Tatsumi and the PE teacher talking to each other about something and it looked _serious. _Maybe it has something to do with that?”

Yu shrugs and looks away. The three of them begin to brainstorm potential scenarios with one another while Yu tunes them out, thumbs twiddling together as they realise they have a lot of questions.

* * *

The conversation, at the time, has them sort of focusing on everything but Tatsumi Kanji – it is only later, when they are alone, that they realise how odd it is for Yosuke to specify Kanji’s ‘gayness’ being the reason behind his caginess regarding the textiles shop. In their mind, it makes sense that he knows a lot about them – he works with his mother, she may appreciate him being knowledgeable and able to take her place when she has to go and do something else.

That is even assuming he is gay – and even then, Yosuke’s tone of voice makes their skin crawl.

_Cause he’s gay._

Like that is a problem.

There is most definitely something that they are all missing – Kanji is a victim of bullying despite being a big, tall punk and his Midnight Channel episode has him chasing after a kid essentially asking why everyone is judging him. If Yu is to hazard a guess, they think the child is most definitely Kanji from when he is a kid. They haven’t seen instances of people besides the owner of the shadow appearing on TV, though it isn’t as if there is a rule against that.

For now, they pin down that the boy is Tatsumi Kanji as a child. He even has dyed tips, even if Kanji’s hair is mostly dyed – they still see that as a coincidence that cannot be ignored. The other thing is what the boy is holding – a sewing kit. Textiles... they don’t know anything about that stuff (as stupid as they are), but even they know that those two may be similar in context.

Why a sewing kit? _‘girly pansy stuff.’_

They put a hand on their mouth as they sit in wait, their mind going crazy --

“Yu-kun? I thought it was you.” a playful, lilting and boyish voice calls out to them and they blink their eyes. Looking up, they see Adachi walking up towards them and they are quick to stand up and bow slightly upon seeing him – something that makes him laugh and Yu flush in embarrassment. “Caught you off-guard, huh?” he smiles as he looks at Yu, the corner of his lips not reaching his eyes. “Friends not here?”

They shake their head. Their hands curl. “No, but they will be here soon. I’m just waiting for them here.”

“You take the whole punctuality thing super seriously, don’t’cha, Yu-kun?” Adachi says as he walks up to the bench they are previously sitting on and takes a seat himself, his hand patting the empty spot next to him, “sit down for a moment, kid. Let’s talk, just you and me.” they hesitate for a second before swallowing the lump in their throat down and they make their way next to Adachi and sit down, hands sitting on their lap and trembling.

He smiles at Yu still, never once stopping, and they don’t know why their chest is thundering with their heartbeat. They feel like their chest is about to explode. “You mind answering a question for me, Yu-kun?” he asks softly, like he is trying to soothe a frightened animal.

“I will try my best, Adachi-san.”

“Yeah, that’s good ‘nuff honestly. What I’m about to ask isn’t even really a question when you think about it though, it’s more like... a bit of concern.” their throat clenches. He looks more at his fingernails for a moment before looking back at Yu.

“You got a good head on your shoulders, kid. Smart, hard working, even from what little I saw of you you seem like a really good kid. You’re gonna be great, maybe even become a surgeon and make a lotta money.”

They shift uncomfortably in their seat. “Ah, thank you, Adachi-san. May I ask why you’re complimenting me?”

He waves their comment off. “I’m just thinking to myself – why’s a kid like you, who’s got the whole world out for you, trying to play detective?”

The world around them suddenly stops. Everything around them goes silent, except for the _thump thump thump thump _of their heart and the hiss of air in and out of their nostrils. They swallow a few times, trying to desperately think of a way to respond before saying, “I’m sorry, Adachi-san, I don’t know-”

“You were talking about Tatsumi Kanji yesterday with your friends, trying to figure something out, weren’t you?”

Yu coughs. Adachi just watches them patiently, waiting for their fit to end. “I- I’m sorry-”

“Look, Kid. I was the only one who saw and heard you guys, cause you all were so drenched in your own world you didn’t even realise I existed.”

His expression doesn’t change – the corner of his lips tilt upwards even further, twitching with amusement, almost as if Yu’s absentmindedness that day is hilarious to him. They find themself struggling to breathe normally.

“You should really pay more attention next time – never know who’s gonna hear you. What if it was Chisato-chan? She’d be worried out of her mind for you, y’know.” he pushes a stray lock of hair out of his face. Yu can’t stop staring at him.

“I’m sorry, Adachi-san--”

A heavy hand rests on their shoulder and they go silent. The chitter chatter of the shop around them slowly comes back as buzzing hums. “I’m telling you ‘bout this ‘cause I’m worried ‘bout ya, kid. Uchida-chan probably wouldn’t like it if you did something silly, now, would she?” he squeezes their shoulder, fingernails short as it digs into their shirt. “Just keep an eye out for yourself, kid. Playing detective when you ain’t one can be pretty dangerous.

“‘sides, we already are lookin’ for a kid to play detective for us. You don’t gotta worry ‘bout it.” he ruffles their hair, making it look messier and wavier, like they just woke up. He pats their shoulder a few times then stands up, hands in his pockets and eyes elsewhere. “I gotta get back to work. Take care, kid, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”


	17. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is especially disjointed because I haven't been in the best place mentally for about months now, so please forgive any issues or inconsistencies here. There was a lot I wanted to write but couldn't be able to simply because of fatigue + the fact that it would have been too much in general.
> 
> **Edit, 24/09/2020**: fixed a flub with the sentence _"... to get his thought together, a hand “Umm... it feels, stuffy.”"_ where the action ended at "a hand" and didn't have a continuation.  
**02/10/2020:** Added a comment about rainy weather.

They don’t really know how long they take to finally compose themself again, but it thankfully happens before Yosuke or anyone else arrive onto the scene. They don’t really want to explain to the gang why it is that they look like they just woke up because they cannot fix their hair thanks to Adachi. They run their fingers through their own hair and remember – momentarily – their old school and the obsession people have with their hair.

“_It’s so soft and pretty! What do you use?”_

“_You know, not a lot of girls can pull off the wavy, long hair look. You’re so pretty, Yumi-chan!”_

“_Senpai, I wish I was as pretty as you.”_

“_Share your secret! How’s your hair always this nice?”_

“_You look perfect even with braids, how do you do it? You’re so pretty!”_

“_Don’t tie your hair up, just let it free. Boys’ll like you more when you look like that!”_

  
  


  
  


“_Will__ you go out with me?”_

Their fingers constantly halt just above their chin before going back to the top of their head to drag down between the strands. Wavy hair always looks good on them – messy, bedridden hair, too. They know this well. They reach behind themself and ball their hair up in their hands, imitating the world’s tiniest ponytail, and then immediately let go just to stare off into the distance.

“_Like, you don’t even wear makeup and you look so good. You’re unbelievable, senpai.”_

It seems that their beauty transcends even the gender people think them to be – if they are a girl, they are beautiful. If they are a boy, they are ethereal. No matter what, people seem to obsess over their looks – _a pretty boy, a pretty girl. Long lashes, soft cheeks, full lips – everything to make them more beautiful than everyone else in school._

Adachi is a very touchy guy, even with a boy. Maybe it’s because their face is soft, gentler than other boys – they don’t have the same square jaw as Tatsumi, the sharpness of Yosuke. His touch still burns their shoulder, leaving behind an imprint that they don’t want to acknowledge anymore.

He knows – he knows that they talk about Tatsumi, but what else does he know? Does he know about the TV world? They always make sure to be cagey about that, to be vague and always make it seem like they are just a bunch of nosy teenagers poking their business into things they shouldn’t. But what does Adachi-san know? What does he hear? He doesn’t really let them speak so it isn’t as if they can glean anything from whatever Adachi is saying.

Are they just a nosy brat to him? A kid who is trying too hard to be hero because they are in a new place with new friends? They don’t know. Should they tell the gang? Do they want to? They stare off into the distance, waiting for the rest to arrive. What is taking them so long? Maybe it has to do with the fact that they come here an hour earlier just because they don’t like being late. They rub their eyes and lean back into the bench they are sitting on before then burying their face into their palms. Rubbing at their face over and over again and gently smacking their own cheeks, they look up and around.

The hair on their neck stands on edge, prickly and uncomfortable. Irritated, they scratch at their neck while looking around aimlessly. Inquisitive, blue eyes stare into their own, intense and searching, and they flinch when they accidentally lock eyes with someone they don’t need to. Embarrassed, they look away quickly. The discomfort does not abate, even as they scratch the back of their neck until their skin feels raw.

* * *

“Hey, hey – partner! Wake up!” a voice calls out and they jolt awake abruptly, eyes wide and their gaze bleary as they look around. They jolt away when they finally register a weight on their left shoulder and scramble away, their gaze startled when they roll their eyes up to meet Yosuke’s bemused ones. “Dang, dude, you been here long? You didn’t seem like the kinda person to just nap in public, y’know.”

Yukiko peeks out from behind Yosuke, looking at them just as curiously as he does. Chie is busy ordering food somewhere else to take note of the situation. They scratch at their left shoulder and curl their toes in their shoes, throat feeling very dry. “Hey,” they say hoarsely and Yukiko is quick to offer them a full bottle of water. “Thanks.”

“Are you okay?” Yukiko asks, “if you’re tired, we can try a different day...”

They shake their head. “I don’t think we should. It's raining a lot today, so I think that's a good move.” they murmur absentmindedly, though they don’t really know why they say that. Did they really fall asleep in public? Why did no one do anything to them? They absentmindedly reach for their bag just to see if anything is stolen but find everything as it is – all of their notebooks in place and their shitty phone in a plastic bag at the very bottom.

Chie comes back with a huge meal, alarmingly huge really, and they look at their large serving with a blank expression. The only person with a small serving with Yukiko and Yosuke complains about Chie’s favouritism – interestingly, that causes her to quiet down and makes Yukiko look at her with an unreadable expression. They don’t really taste it when they eat their food and they are quick to ask for something to put their food in so that Nanako can maybe have some Junes food.

While the rest are talking among themselves about their goals today, making it sound like they’re trying to do a raid in some sort of online game, Yu feels the creeping, scratching discomfort from earlier come back again. Their breath catches in their chest and they force themself to breathe normally while looking around, trying to focus on anything else.

A familiar gaze meets theirs again for but a brief second before Yosuke is asking for their attention again just to read things by them.

They have to hold back the urge to scratch themself.

* * *

“Hello, sensei.” Teddie says, his voice just as comfortingly childish and boyish as ever. He tilts his ‘head’ to the side when he sees Yu, his eyes unblinking as always and the smile spreading his mouth wide, “you’re here for the new person who got thrown in here, right? His palace is super close, so it shouldn’t be that hard to find!”

Yosuke walks up to Teddie and pats his head absentmindedly, as though not realising he is even doing it. “Can ya tell us anything about the new palace, Teddie? Anything at all?”

He looks around, gazing at Yukiko curiously – she is a new member, to Teddie at least, and he looks like a child trying to figure out who the new face is. One paw comes to rest on his mouth and he eyes Yukiko up and down, before he looks back at Yosuke. He swipes Yosuke’s hand off of his head.

There is a brief pause while Teddie tries to get his thought together, a hand coming up to rest on his chin. “Umm... it feels, stuffy.” he manages out thoughtfully, and Yukiko raises a curious eyebrow. “I went there to try and scope it out with the help of some of the nicer demons, and it’s smaller than I expected... but it just felt so, stuffy? I don’t know how else to describe it... like being smooshed in a sandwich.”

What a strange way to describe it. They don’t really say much else besides idle chatter as the rest of the team talk over what to do when they get to the palace – Chie spends a good bit of time trying to describe and explain to Yukiko what to do and how “Personas” work, specifically what Yu does, and the general idea of the palaces. Teddie is a demon with the ability to communicate with them and capable of sussing out any potential threats, something that makes Yukiko praise him and the little demon get happy like a child praised by his teacher.

The sight makes them stifle a smile.

“This’s the place!” Teddie cries out after a few minutes of walking in the foggy insides and he spins and poses, bizarrely, in front of the entrance to the palace.

Standing before them, tall and imposing, is what looks to be the gates to some sort of school – it looks like the one that Nanako goes to, though... the blackened vines that wrap around the rusty metal clearly doesn’t exist in the real world. Withered plants line the entrance to the school and the gate creaks loudly when Yosuke and Yu both force it open. Black brick lines the pathway up to the school, the actual palace, and the doors are wide open to reveal a swirling vortex into whatever it is that Kanji’s mind creates.

Yosuke is the one who approaches the proper entrance to the school first, nails scratching at his scalp while he takes the place in. “Man, I haven’t been here since I was a kid.” Yosuke says as he stares at the rundown version of the school before them, his hand going down to then scratch at the underside of his chin. “Though, I’m like, one-hundred percent sure it doesn’t look like this – even with me being gone for like, a long while.”

“The one in the real world is very well-kept,” Yukiko says from next to them, “and it’s very beautiful, much more than Yasogami. They have a garden of roses right in front of the school and the gates are always clean and oiled. There are also some murals on the walls, some of them done by the kids of the school themselves.”

Chie cracks her knuckles, a frown settling on her face, “well, nonna that matters right now. We have a palace to peruse through, and a delinquent to save!”

  
  


  
  


Stepping inside of the faux-school feels... strange. Some sort of arcade music starts to blare loudly the moment they take a step inside and the walls of the entire school are covered in a long, red smudge. In a way, it reminds them of stains being dragged on the ground. Doors hang and flail, broken off their hinges or barely clinging on. Childlike whispers echo throughout the hallway, lips smacking wetly together and their words slurring out quickly.

The whiplash hits them hard enough to almost make their neck break. Teddie, as always, relays information to them from outside – they really need to ask him how he is able to communicate with them when he is always so far away, but that is a question for another time. According to him, this palace is only three floors tall, similar to the actual school if Chie’s claim is to be believed, and the shadow is on the third floor somewhere.

“Be careful!” Teddie warns, “the demons here seem especially agitated, which is probably because of the palace itself. Try not to take too many thoughts that you can’t take!”

That is the first time he warns them of something like this though Yu is the only one who lingers on that. Yukiko does pause for a second and keeps her question to herself, as though assuming it is something that the rest of them already know and she just needs to go with the flow.

  
  


Walking further through the corridor makes the whispering grow louder and louder until it is practically screaming, stage-whispering rather, though the words are still hard to comprehend. They slur and gargle together and even Teddie can’t tell them what they are hearing. He may have the ability to monitor their location but even he can’t comprehend gibberish.

The demons – as well – are no joke. It is when Yosuke’s persona is almost crushed to death that they realise the severity of the situation they are in; Kanji’s emotions are running rampant, driving the demons to some sort of frenzy, and they have to play smarter to actually survive here. Yukiko’s persona is especially fragile, resulting in them having to force her to play back while Chie and Yu take the front.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be fighting every demon we see,” Yukiko suggests, her voice coming out in heavy wheezes and pants, “I don’t think we can take them on.”

“Sure, maybe not,” Yosuke is the one who speaks this time, “but didja guys notice something?”

Yu furrows their brow. “What?”

“Listen!”

They close their eyes and focus, brows furrowing together... until they can finally hear it --

  
  


“_it’s the que............ again.”_

“_so creepy --------- pink?”_

“_girls colour –-------- freak”_

“_weirdo.... weirdo .... mo. Weirdo ----mo.”_

“_mommy said boys ......... mo.”_

“_.... gay we-----do”_

  
  


They look at one another as realisation dawns onto them, eyes wide. It doesn’t take a geinus to try and figure out what these voices are saying, though it is clear that that isn’t _all _of them. These are just the ones that repeat over and over in broken, incomplete sentences. If it isn’t for the fact that their injuries in the TV world are building up then Yu will probably have declared it pertinent that they keep going -

But they are only on the first floor and they are already almost dead.

“We should head back and come another day,” Yu says after a few minutes of deliberation, “there’s no need for us to die here. But... why does it feel as though the demons here are so different from before?”

Yukiko hums, “perhaps we should ask Naoto-san.”

“The guy in the Velvet Room?” Yosuke grumbles, “didn’t he say that he wouldn’t answer jack and or shit?”

Yu shrugs helplessly. “Igor might help us. But still, we should leave – we know what we’re dealing with, now, so we should leave... and perhaps go to the Velvet Room before we go.” even though Chie grumbles about it she relents regardless – out of all of them, she is probably the least hurt and can definitely take a beating still.

They can’t say the same about Yukiko and Yosuke – Yu can swap their persona and demons around, keeping themselves out of harms way for a little bit longer but those two are glass cannons. They call out to Teddie to let him know they are retreating for the day and he looks concerned when they meet up outside of the palace again.

His paw rests on his chin and his eyes are down turned, a frown on his face. “Is... everyone okay?” he asks meekly, “you guys left earlier than you did the other times...”

“Hey,” Yu gently pets his head, a smile on their own face as they try to soothe Teddie’s distress, “we just had to know what we were getting into first, Teddie. We’ll come back soon and try to figure something out, but we’re fine. Yukiko-san and Yosuke-kun just need to rest.”

He, dutifully, leads them back to the main hub with his waddle, thoughtfully quiet while Yukiko and Chie talk to each other in hushed tones. Yosuke has his own arms crossed behind him, wincing from the strain from doing so yet not uncrossing them. He seems to be in his own world, meaning that Yu is left to their own devices.

They think back to the other day – _because he’s gay. _Bullying – does this have something to do with that? It isn’t as though one can simply get over bullying, especially when it seems to still be ongoing. Didn’t he go to juvy as well? Does Ms. Sofue...

  
  


Wait.

They can ask Ms. Sofue about this, can’t they? Maybe they know something about Kanji.

* * *

Yu immediately beelines towards the Velvet Room door the moment they get back to the hub and the rest of the crew is scrambling to follow after them. Naoto is there as usual, doing a handstand while Pianist plays a somber tune without any operatic singing. Igor is sipping on tea while sitting on the same couch as always, his voice as commanding as ever when he greets them with that ever familiar line-

  
  


“Welcome to the Velvet Room. The door is locked.”

They take a seat across from him, hands on their knees as they bow their head down and think for a moment. They look back up, swallowing, before they begin speaking. “What exactly are the palaces? Have they always existed?”

Igor grins at them, as always, and sets his tea down slowly and deliberately. “You must be wondering because of Tatsumi Kanji.” he folds his hands beneath his chin, looking through them with his unblinking gaze. “They exist because our master says so, borne of the despair and struggles of humanity.” he tilts his head to the side. “They exist, and shall continue to exist, at the whims of our master. We arise and shall respond to them, but we have our own limits. The sea of the human soul is astounding, never-ending... and a reminder, Narukami.” they sit up straight. “Man shall return to the Sea of the Self, but must learn peace to do so.”

“Is... that it? Is there really nothing else you can tell me about the palaces? That doesn't explain anything... at all. Surely there's something else you can say about them?”

Naoto flips onto his feet, then goes back to down a handstand when he throws his jackets off and onto the floor. He holds himself perfectly upright before speaking up, “not really. Philemon’s the one that has to tell you, and even then I don’t know where he is anymore.”

_ Philemon? _

“The only thing we can tell you is that the palaces are only a tiny pebble of the human mind, amplified by this place. The mind is so much more, so much greater. What will come of it? Who knows, Yu-kun. Strength comes from the mind.”

  
  


They don’t explain themself when they step outside of the Velvet Room and only say that Igor locks the door the moment they come in when they are questioned about it. They encourage everyone else to leave first and are the last one to step outside of the TV, the electronics department as empty as ever. They really, really must overcharge here if people refuse to come to this floor of Junes.

“You guys go on without me,” Yu says when Chie asks them if they wanna go to a Chinese restaurant to relax and gorge themselves, “I have to do some grocery shopping.” they wave them off and simply stand there, bury their face in their palms once they are gone, and take a deep breath.

_ I’m so tired. _

Unbeknownst to them as they leave after just standing there like a dolt, a pair of intelligent, bewildered blue eyes watch them all leave the television. The person the eyes belong to stares at where the group leaves from, mouth open in disbelief before closing. Turning, the person is quick to leave to try and process what it is that their eyes witness there.


	18. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit:** Fixed a VERY stupid typo where I kept calling Saki as "Konichi" not "Konishi".  
**02/10/2020:** Added an edit that mentioned sunny weather.

“Sofue-sensei?” Yu asks after class is done, their backpack sitting heavy on their back and Ms. Sofue looks up at them in surprise. “May I ask you a question?”

The history teacher smiles, her helmet removed and her hair a mess around her head, and she puts the eraser down despite not being done with the blackboard yet. She turns to face them and gestures at them to keep going, the picture perfect of a teacher willing to ease her student’s worries. Their question, however, isn’t about history - and they have to breathe deeply for a few seconds before they decide to continue, “do you know a Tatsumi Kanji?”

Her face falls. “Well… yes, yes I do.” she says and sighs, a hand running through her hair, “he was one of my students before he had to leave, though we did arrange something with the juvenile centre to help him continue with his schooling so that he doesn’t have to fall behind. Why are you interested in him, Narukami-san?”

They lick their lips and stall for a bit, wondering how to word it before they slump their shoulders and just say it outright, “I heard he used to get bullied for being gay.” the look on Ms. Sofue’s face tells them all that they need to know. “So, was it true?”

She takes in a deep breath before she closes the door after checking that no one is around and takes a seat, looking tired as she does. She rubs at her face.“Tatsumi-kun wasn’t gay, or at least, we didn’t know if he was. But the students learned that he liked sewing and knitting, and then began to make fun of him for it.” she says.

They stand awkwardly in front of the teacher’s desk, their shoulders shifting as to try and balance the weight of the backpack on them. “And after that, he was sent to a juvenile centre for his behaviour, though he was calming down near the end and he was the one who had begged that we figure out a way to help him finish the semester even when in juvenile detention.” Ms. Sofue lets out a soft, bitter sigh, before saying her last piece about Kanji, “you know, he wasn’t even supposed to leave the juvenile centre, but someone from this school vouched for him and spent a lot of time working with him to make sure he got out sooner. We never learned who it was.”

“Really?” they ask, startled, “it wasn’t Kondo-sensei?”

She shakes her head. “No, he would tell me if it was. He doesn’t keep secrets like that from me, and he has no reason to either. Ah, before you leave, Narukami-san, did you go to that place yet? The one we recommended?”

They shake their head. “No, sorry Sofue-sensei. I’ve been very busy and I haven’t asked my aunt to take me there yet.” she dismisses them after answering actual questions about history and they walk away with a pensive expression on their face, walking past several people and keeping their head bowed down. They have basketball practice today and they make sure to change into their jersey out of sight of everyone else -

Of course, Yu is always late to arrive onto the scene but Kou just accepts it as a character eccentricity rather than their attempts at hiding their body from everyone else. He claps his hands together, grins at Yu in a way that makes their heart flutter and calms their nerves down, and then they begin practice.

Kou is energetic as always, arm looping around Yu’s to spin them around playfully while he makes jokes about polishing balls, and they don’t know what to say to him. Some time after, they ask him if he wants to polish down some sausages and Kou snickers so hard they are surprised he doesn’t choke.

* * *

“Hey, guys,” Chie says when they all meet up again after their after-school activities on a rather nice sunny day - or rather, Yu and Yukiko return from their clubs and Yosuke has a shopping bag with him. They don’t know where Chie has been this whole time. “I know I’m normally really stupid, and all, and I’m like, really dumb, but does anyone have any clue _why the fuck officer Uchida is here?”_

“What.” Yosuke says before peering over Chie’s shoulder and he yelps, “holy shit, officer Uchida is here. We have to-”

Before he can finish their sentence, Uchida’s eyes fall onto them and she smiles before walking over, looking friendlier than Adachi ever will - or maybe they are just being rude because he catches them all in the act of talking about things they shouldn’t. “Just the people I was looking for,” she says cheerily, “I’m officer Uchida, in case you all forgot about me, and I was wondering if you kids have time to answer some questions.”

They look at each other and then deliberate over lying to her, though Yukiko seems to decide it for them as she steps up. “Yes, we have some time. Is something the matter, officer? I thought we already were interviewed…”

“I heard from one of my associates that you guys were snooping about in Junes while talking about Tatsumi Kanji.” she says, cutting Yukiko off with an arch of her eyebrow, and she flinches beneath Uchida’s gaze, “normally, this wouldn’t be a problem of course - people are free to speculate, but after you kids saved Amagi-san and Konishi-san, this is getting a bit suspicious. Would you mind explaining why you were talking about him?”

Yu raises their hand, catching her attention. “Yes, ma’am, I can.” they say quickly, before Yosuke or Chie can say something, “Tatsumi-kun was someone that Yukiko-san used to know, in passing, and she was talking about how awful it was that he went missing. She felt guilty because he used to be bullied at school, so we were talking about if maybe we could do our own search party.” they say, somewhat lying through their teeth as they do, but Uchida doesn’t give off any indication of whether she believes them or not.

So, of course, they keep going. “Yukiko-san was against it, of course, but that was what happened. Us rescuing Konishi-san was an accident, and Chie-san was adamant that we had to find Yukiko-san the last time. I’m sorry for any problems we caused.”

For a moment, Uchida’s gaze flickers away from them and looks over everyone else. She looks back at them briefly after and, for a second, they wonder what she sees - she is almost staring through them, looking like she knows something and wants to talk about it but seemingly can’t. She purses her lips in thought, before shaking her head.

A smile brightens her face again - she seems to be a very cheerful person, which… that’s nice. It’s very nice. “Well, you should leave things to the police - kidnapping and murder, that’s supposed to be our job, you know?” she says absentmindedly, as though she isn’t really here. They tilt their head. “Sometimes, things are far too strange for even us to get. Don’t you think so, Yu-kun?”

“Uhm,” they say, looking behind them and at everyone else, trying to figure out how to answer, before looking back at Uchida who smiles oddly down at them, “uh, yeah. Some stuff’s weird, like. Truth is stranger than fiction, stuff.”

Again, she nods but she also seems to not be really there as she does – she leaves them without saying anything else besides “goodbye”. She seems to be in a hurry to do something and for a moment, just a moment, Yu wants to reach out and grab her wrist and ask her if Adachi is the one who says anything to her, or something more. But, if it is Adachi, then why does she not mention his name? They want to say anything, something, ask a question –

She leaves as they stand there, stricken, and reaching out to her – but Uchida doesn’t notice. She has the murder, the kidnappings on her mind, and Konishi Saki’s injuries to worry about. She is still in the hospital from what Yu understands, though her university still isn’t open yet. That is one good thing out of this – she won’t miss anything from her absence.

They all look at each other, wonder what to do, and then Chie breaks the silence by telling them they should head to Junes and just jump into the TV world without talking about their plan. They can’t help but quietly agree with her – if Adachi isn’t the only one to overhear their conversations, like they assume so, then they need to be more discreet and careful. Maybe the issue is the fact that they are having their meetings in the cafeteria of Junes and not somewhere else…

Like the Velvet –

_Oh my god they are all so fucking stupid_

* * *

Teddie guides them to the palace again and, this time, Yu decides to lag behind just to look over their shoulder and peek at what it is that Teddie uses to guide the group –

Their eyes widen when Teddie presses his paws together and closes his eyes, lights forming and swirling around him – halos of light jumps up and down Teddie’s body before it burst. Like monitors surrounding him, maps surround Teddie that immediately begin to colour and populate with dots. He frowns and focuses further, and they suppose that is him trying to pinpoint where the group is. Seeing what Teddie is doing, they turn around and head towards the palace to follow everyone else. They are the “leader” after all.

The whispering is something they feel like they won’t get used to – the volume fluctuates between being horrifically loud and difficult to comprehend to stage-whispering. The demons here are quiet – somber in ways that the previous ones aren’t. Each attack starts despondent, yet ends with ferocity – their expressions are mournful, but their voices are incensed. The whispering fluctuates, boys and girls both lip smacking loudly and talking foul of Kanji (or so they assume).

Yu is careful this time – they call upon demons that they know can take a lot of hits and has Chie stand in the front with them so that when she gets hit it gets transferred over to her boisterous persona. Their own persona is silent as ever, not responding verbally but always appearing when Yu switches around to get some damage in before going back to a more brutish demon. They wonder what Izanagi won’t talk to them.

Yukiko and Yosuke sit at the back, far back, and they all have to play leapfrog with each other as the demons try to dive onto Yosuke (whose persona evolves into a healer, much to his chagrin) and to stop the fire slinging Yukiko. They most definitely make a good team now that Yu is actually paying attention, guiding people around even as yelling while keeping their voice up is harder and harder.

However, violence isn’t a good answer all the time. Yukiko makes a point in their last excursion here – stealth is quite difficult when none of them have done this before, but Teddie’s voice guides them along and tells them the route of the demons here – now that they know how his ‘navigation’ work, it makes quite a lot of sense as to how he knows all this.

He speaks in hushed and careful tones, as though trying not to get them caught, and Yu tries not to smile. It’ll be weird if they do.

When they get past a rather crowded hallway they find themselves facing their worst nightmare: a labyrinthine maze.

“Aw come ON!” Chie and Yosuke cry out at the same time, the former stomping her foot while the latter buries his face in his palms and groans in irritation. “Okay, guess it’s time for Teddie’s chance to shine-”

_“Uhhhhhhhhh,”_ Teddie’s voice immediately interrupts Yosuke, sounding apologetic as it does, _“not to uh, burst your enthusiasm guy, but I can’t see the maze.”_

Yu furrows their brow. “What do you mean?” they say.

_“You guys see a maze, right?” _Teddie says slowly, as though trying to figure out what is happening, _“I… I don’t see that. I just see a huge empty room that’s connected to a hallway. There’re no demons where you are, though, guys! So – you, you should be safe, I – I think? I don’t know! I’ve never run into anything like this! Just be safe!”_

Chie sighs. “Well, just stick to the left guys! And if it isn’t left, go back until it is a left!”

They pinch their nose in irritation. Leading the way, Yu takes the step into the maze – and their surroundings _warp. _The yellow walls shift and waver around them, as though they are seeing a mirage in a vast desert, and blocks of colours suddenly take over. It reminds them of – it looks like the walls of Yasogami high, littered with boards and test papers. They turn to try and address everyone else, only to startle when they realise the way back is blocked and they can’t see nor hear anyone.

Even Teddie’s voice doesn’t reach them – all they hear are random syllables being cut off constantly as he tries to speak to them.

They are alone.

_“It’s him.” _A voice says – to their right? They think it is to their right. With nothing else to guide them, they walk along the path to the right – no need to rush, take it slow, breathe. Breathe. _“It’s him.” _The voice says, clearer – a boy? It seems to be so soft, scared. _“It’s him.” _It repeats, all the way to their right. They place a hand on the wall and startle when it ripples around their palm, like waves on a pond. Yu pushes down, only to realise nothing happens. This is illusory, but they cannot break it.

_‘Izanagi?’ _they think to themselves now that they are alone. The persona stirs inside of their heart, its hand pressing against the muscle’s interior. They try not to gag at the feeling. _‘Can you help me break this?’ _the hand retreats near immediately and silence follows. They swallow the lump in their throat down. Just like every other time they try to speak to the persona, it doesn’t respond.

_“Kanji?” _the soft voice breaks through again, _“are you okay?” _he is so soft, so gentle when he speaks – it is a young boy, a gentle, young boy. This is Yasogami high, but the boy sounds younger than that. He sounds like a child – no, that is too young. Maybe a little after. A pre-teen? _“You should stand up for yourself more.”_

The voice twists ahead and to the left and so they follow, their hand still on the rippling, shifting walls. _“You can’t keep letting them call you bad things.” _The voice continues on, soft and gentle. _“I’ll try to help you as much as I can, so, take my hand, okay?”_

Around the corner stands a boy with short, black hair. His hand is outstretched, his cheeks pink and puffed up thanks to their wide smile. His eyes are a deep, dark brown, so dark they can almost be confused for black. He holds his hand out and looks at Yu, waiting. _“Let’s go home, Kanji. I bet your mom’s worried about you. It’s been two hours already.”_

They approach the little boy cautiously – just because Teddie says there are no demons… how can he be sure? He can’t even see the maze that they see. What if something is obfuscating it all?

The boy tilts his head, his expression looking curious as though Yu says something and he laughs gently. They startle. _“My parents know I’m here! I told them to take me back to school, because your mom called. I knew where you were. C’mon, it’s okay. Also, wanna know a secret? Gotta grab my hand first if you do!” _they reach down towards the hand offered to them, wrap their own slender fingers around his little pudgy ones, and he tugs them along. _“You look pretty in pink.”_

After that, he guides Yu along the maze confidently – he hums the entire time as he does, happy and relaxed. This is – this is most definitely new. Are the palaces evolving? Nothing like this happens in Yukiko’s or Konishi’s… but – Yukiko’s palace has Chie’s shadow in it as well as her own, and they arrive to Konishi’s late.

_“Did you say something?” _the boy’s voice breaks through immediately and they look up in surprise. He is staring into Yu, lips in a small, curious ‘o’. A smile breaks out and a happy laugh follows after. _“You big scaredy cat! I like you too. I’ll always like you, no matter what, okay? No matter where I go. If I travel far… then, let’s be pen pals!”_

Before they know it they are at the other end of the maze. The boy lets go of their hand and turns to fully face them, hands clasping behind him as he does. He closes his eyes, and they open up golden. “Sometimes,” the boy says, his voice firmer now, “sometimes – no, always, there’s a part inside of everyone that wants to see the best in you. Everyone wants to be happy, but some one of them might not know it. Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone deserves to be happy.” He stares into Yu as he says that, a sudden wind blowing both their hairs. “He misses me, but he doesn’t know how I feel about him. He stopped writing because he went to juvenile detention, and now this happened.

“He deserves to be happy.”

Loud cracking noises echo from behind them – the maze breaks and falls apart, the walls landing with heavy thuds and crashes and Yu doesn’t turn around. They can only stare at the little boy. “I’m not the person he misses.” He continues on as the maze turns into nothing but rubble and debris, yet his voice travels farther, higher, louder, than the crashing. Than the destruction. “He deserves to be happy.”

And just like that, he is gone. The walls fade into dust, the maze disappears, and the group is suddenly in front of them in the hallway, looking overwhelmed and confused.

Talking to them after this reveals that the boy that appears… isn’t exactly the same. He looks the exact same, of course – shirt, trousers, and sneakers and all – but he doesn’t necessarily say the same things. For Chie, the boy tells Kanji to be strong. For Yukiko, the boy tells Kanji not to be scared. For Yosuke, the boy tells Kanji that his bullies are not worth it.

The destruction at the end is the same for everyone but the boy disappears when he guides them to the end of the maze. Yu tries not to frown. Being careful in their words, they truncate what the boy tells them – they don’t mention that he and Kanji are pen pals, they don’t mention the speech he makes about happiness, and they don’t mention his declaration of like in return of Kanji’s own.

They do, however, say one thing after a moment of deliberation: “I think that boy is a part of Kanji-san’s conscience, maybe… maybe looking like his best friend, because he doesn’t see himself positively anymore…?”

“That’s… strange.” Chie says. Yosuke is quiet, though they don’t know why. Yukiko just looks stricken. “I wonder who that boy was…? He actually kinda looked familiar, what about you, Yukiko?”

“I… I’m sorry, I don’t remember.” She says genuinely. “And… Yosuke-kun, you probably don’t know either, do you?”

Yosuke startles at that and then rubs the back of his hand. “Uh… nah, sorry dudes. I left Inaba immediately after Kindergarten, and he was… you know… way past that, probably.”

“Well, whoever the boy was, we can’t stand here forever.” Yu says patiently, “we should talk about it later – and when we leave, I have a suggestion for a new meeting spot.”

Despite the fact that the three of them are curious about Yu’s new meeting spot, they shepherd everyone along and ask Teddie to tell them what he sees. They can’t linger there forever and if they don’t have anything to do then Yu fears that they will try to search the room for any trace of that boy again.

Who is he? Why is he there?

What is going on?


	19. Chapter 17

The whispers slow down after they meet with that boy, quieting to the point of being inaudible and all the insults are incoherent now. They know, for a fact, that it is there but at least they don’t have to listen to it the entire time. The lip-smacking and clearing of throats fades with the quieting of the whispers though that doesn’t mean the demons in this palace are easier to deal with.

They still hit harder than anything else they are used to, which doesn’t give Yu any time to try and rationalize what is happening. The only thing they can do is try and strategize on the fly, but they can tell that everyone else is growing exhausted with having to constantly take blows that they don’t want to deal with.

So when they finally get done being smacked around and shot with magic, seeing the stairs to the second floor and hearing Teddie’s victorious outcry is almost a miracle.

_“You found it! That’s where you gotta go! That’s it!” _he says with childish glee, _“that’s the second floor, which is where the big baddie is! So, so, so, so, I think you guys can do it. Wait, can you do it?” _

Yu looks around and takes in Chie’s exhaustion, Yukiko’s dread, and then takes in the odd, pensive look in Yosuke’s face. Yes, he looks haggard as they all do but he also seems… thoughtful in a way that Yu doesn’t get. They look at him, wonder what to say, but then decide to soldier on when Chie yells out, “what’re we still standin’ here for! C’mon! We have to get going!”

“Do we have to?” Yu says, only to immediately zone the protests out when they catch sight of the very same, ethereal butterfly from before – it flutters past their head and flies in circles near the stairs, beckoning Yu to follow. Pushing past Chie and Yosuke, they ignore the questioning gaze as they begin to follow the butterfly up the stairs.

“Wait, Yu – Wait!” they hear voices shouting behind them, but they ignore them and continue to follow the butterfly. They don’t know why it is that they chase it up the long and winding stairs, running around in circles as they chase it up higher and higher. Their footsteps echo in the palace and for a moment, just a moment, they wonder why their persona isn’t freaking out at them about this. Where are the demons? Are these long stairs a safe zone?

Of course it is, hasn’t every other stair been a safe zone? But none of them are as long as this one. By the time they get to the top they are surprised they aren’t winded – perhaps because they are in the palace, or maybe because of something else. The butterfly’s presence washes over them, but none of their wound heals. Their persona and demons are as tired as ever.

By the time they get to the top, a door waits for them – an ordinary school door greets them, though covered in scratches from use and misuse. Yelling and arguing can be heard from behind the door, thuds and thunks echoing loudly throughout. The rest arrive soon enough and Yu doesn’t even wait before they grab at the door handle, nearly ripping it off its hinges so that they can rush inside.

Standing there while clutching at his chest, trying to breathe, is Tatsumi Kanji – dyed hair a mess, eyes wide with surprise and his voice nothing but wheezes of pain. He staggers backwards and when Yu finally tears their eyes away from Kanji they catch sight of his attacker –

They are too late.

A creature stands tall before them, hands on their tear-stricken face – it reminds them of a scorpion, almost, with the way the upper body extends outwards from a long, stinger “tail”. Papers wrap around any parts of its body that it is able, messy kanji and katakana and hiragana sprawled across – insults, all of them are messy, incomprehensible insults, with the only one that they can read being something that makes their stomach flip.

They don’t want to focus on that piece of paper any longer. Instead, they stare at the Shadow’s “face”, distorted and ruined as it is, and falter when they realise it is actively crying.

“What’s WRONG with you!” Kanji yells out, breaking them out of their thoughts, and the rest of the crew stumble in on hearing him scream. “Get over yourself! Stop crying! I am not a crybaby! I’m NOT YOU!”

The Shadow’s crying only gets worse – a phantom hand whips out to slam down onto an exhausted Kanji, who tries to stand only to fall back onto his knees. He wraps his arms around himself, takes in a deep breath, and glares up at the shadow.

Yu doesn’t even hesitate.

_“IZANAGI!” _they scream, their voice breaking through to Kanji – the Shadow looks up in surprise, though they do not stop from trying to slam their large fist down onto the boy. Their persona flies out towards where they throw their hand at and Kanji gasps when the blow meant for him hits Izanagi instead.

They can’t stop the pained cry that rips itself out of his throat and they crumble forward into a heap, the blow proving to be a bit too much yet they cannot – they cannot just pass out. They grit their teeth and curl in on themselves while Izanagi floats above them, hand on his stomach and his face hidden as always. He offers them no comfort, but he does offer protection – even if it is going to hurt Yu. At least hitting him will soften the blow a little.

Yosuke gapes. “YU!” he rushes over to their side and they still manage enough energy to yank themself away from Yosuke’s hands as he tries to stabilize them. He looks at them with confusion clear in his eyes, and perhaps something else, but Yu is too busy trying to keep themself from panicking – they still have to get Kanji to listen.

“Tatsumi Kanji!” they yell hoarsely and he looks at them with a bug-eyed stare, “get – get somewhere safe! Please! We’ll deal with your Shadow!”

“So we were too late…” Yukiko says, aghast, and Kanji’s gaze rips away from Yu to look at her instead, “his Shadow… we can’t let him take over! Chie! Let’s go!”

Just like Yu, both girls look tired and worn down. They call forth their personas regardless, even if said personas look at Chie and Yukiko with barely restrained worry. Yosuke breaks himself out of his thoughts and hops up as well, his persona coming up to try and provide support – anything to help Yu and save Kanji.

But the fight they have is nothing but shameful. They can’t take their time to strategize given how perilous the situation is, especially with how hurt they are, so instead Yu has to fire out panicked commands after commands. They mostly focus on dodging, their stamina holding up long enough, but it isn’t as if they are perfect at that.

Blows are unavoidable, they aren’t perfect, but with the rate they are going they are most definitely going to die in here if they can’t think of something quick. Kanji, at least, listens to them and scrambles into a corner, trying to stay out of the line of fire – though, it isn’t as if Yu has a lot of confidence in their team to keep up.

It is on a random chance where they are hit by a hard tail swipe that they get thrown into the same corner as Kanji, their body sliding on their side and they curl up into a ball from the sheer _pain _of it all.

“H- hey,” they hear an uncertain voice call out and they look up at Kanji with bleary eyes, “you’re – you’re the… you’re the scrawny kid.” he says weakly, hands grasping at his own elbows as he looks into Yu. They can only see his blurry form. “What’s… what’s going on? What’s that thing?”

Swallowing, Yu does their best to answer: “it’s you. Or, a part of you.” they force out through their teeth and they try to force themself up to sit and look at Kanji as best they can, “it’s… it’s the you you don’t want to confront. Everyone – everyone has one.”

“… did it get like that ‘cause I…”

“You denied it?” Yu says, or rather gasps out, “yeah. But – but don’t feel guilty. We’ll take care of this. I promise. You’ll be safe. Don’t – don’t worry, okay? You’ll be safe.”

With that, they manage to get onto wobbly legs and try to rush back into battle to help the rest. Unseen by them, however, Kanji takes this as an opportunity to finally gather himself back up. He stands up on both legs, clenches his fists by his sides, and trembles. He takes a few uncertain steps forward, then stops. He watches and stares as the fighting goes south, as they can’t keep up, and he closes his eyes.

What is he going to do? Yu tells him to stay put, but how can he?

What can he –

_“You deserve to be happy.” _a familiar voice says to him and his eyes open wide. His head snaps up. _“You can’t keep running away. You’ll never be happy that way.”_

With trembling fists and quickly tearing up eyes, he tries not to look behind him and at the source of the voice. He doesn’t want to see him again, doesn’t want to break into tears. He’s tough. He’s strong. He can do this.

Kanji breathes in deeply, gathers up all of his strength, then screams out, “_HEY YOU!” _to the shock of everyone in the room. Yu stumbles, Yosuke actually falls onto his face, and Yukiko catches Chie before she suffers the same fate. The Shadow, regardless, throws them all to the side and skitters over to Kanji, bending down to look at him curiously.

“Y- ya say you’re me, right!?” he hates the way his voice trembles, but he can’t do anything about that. “You – you’re a crybaby, y’know that, right? Ya cry a _lot, _y’can’t handle being yelled at, y’can’t handle being rejected, right?” he uncurls his fists and reaches out to the Shadow, whatever it is, and offers a flat palm to him, “and… and you’re scared, like I am, aren’t’cha?

“Ya don’t gotta be. S’okay to be who you are, okay? Ya don’t gotta be scared anymore, ‘cause… ‘cause I’m not gonna be mad at’cha anymore. Ya didn’t do anythin’ wrong, you’re just scared. And I promise, s’gonna be okay. We’ll get through this together, you an’ me… I just gotta let’cha.”

The Shadow lowers itself closer to Kanji, spindly, freaky arms reaching out to grasp at his hand. He curls his fingers and grabs onto the facsimile of a hand in his own, then gasps when dust falls from the scorpion-like body. He covers his eyes as to not get any in then finally lets his free arm fall when he realises his hand is descending.

A little boy – no, _he _stares up at Kanji, tears in his eyes. A familiar face stares at him – his own childhood face, ostracized and bullied for liking different things. Tears drag salty trails down his face and he sniffles in front of Kanji. Reaching down with his free hand, he ruffles the boy’s hair and his child self clings onto him while crying.

He lets him cry it all out before his child self backs away of his own volition and looks at Kanji with a smile.

Yu watches as, just like with all the other Shadows, Kanji’s Shadow dissipates into essence and is reborn as a large persona. Imposing yet oddly comforting, with a sword in its hand and fluttering belt, stands Kanji’s personification – it claps its hands together, then throws his arms out in an oddly boisterous manner.

_“I am thou, and thou art I. I, Take-Mikazuchi,” _a deep, masculine and soothing voice says, _“borne of Izanagi’s blade, I shall come to your aid, and may the conduit know my gratitude for allowing me to be here. We shall fight, fiercely, relentlessly – lose yourself to your blade, to your wildness, but never forget yourself. I shall be your Persona, and I shall aid you to best my ability.” _he kneels before Kanji, before fading away into the sea of his soul.

Kanji then proceeds to fall flat onto his face and everyone screams and panics as they try and figure out what to do. Teddie face palms from outside the palace.

* * *

Yu drags everyone out towards the Velvet Room the moment everyone has their bearings and Kanji is lucid again. He seems to be phasing in and out of existence, staring at nothing in particular, and Yu chalks that up to the fact that he is probably trying to digest everything that is happening right now… that and he probably needs some rest after all of the drama his life goes through in these short few weeks.

Naoya is there, as usual, looking lazy and uncaring. Igor sits at his sofa and Belladonna sings another amazing operatic piece while Piano-San plays perfectly. The sight of everyone seems to sober Kanji up and Naoya winks at him, much to the former’s embarrassment.

“Yu,” Naoya says happily, chirps it almost, “would you like us to heal your wounds?”

“Wait, can you?” Yu says, but then decides that actually getting healed is more important than the answer and so they let everyone experience Naoya’s healing magic before they all sit down to try and gather themselves. Yu speaks up again once they are all comfortable, “do you mind if we make this our meeting spot from now on?” Yu asks.

Naoya blinks slowly at him then he looks over at Igor who shrugs while grinning the entire time. Belladonna continues her singing and Piano-San seems to be laughing.

“I mean, technically, nothing is stopping you from meeting up here,” Naoya says with amusement clear in his voice, “but, I don’t think we can really let you meet up here – before and after the palaces while you’re here? Yes, sure. But for whatever mundane thing you wanna talk about? I’m afraid I’d have to say no.”

They stare at him blankly. “Why?” they ask and sit up straight.

Naoya smiles apologetically. “If you sit here, you’ll never meet the people you’re supposed to meet. I’m sorry, Yu, and everyone else here, but there are greater powers at play here – and you have to follow them. Isn’t that right, Igor?”

“Yes, master Naoya.” his sage, old voice also signifies his agreement. “There is still much you have to do in the Human Realm. Rest your weary bones here, time shall wait while you are here, and then you may be free to go.”

They all spend some time discussing things together, sitting down on chairs that just appear out of thin air and they decide to not question it. It doesn’t take long for the discussion to steer back to returning Kanji to the police –

“We should take him back,” Yu suggests, “the police will know what to do with him and then we can go back home.”

Yosuke bounces his foot. “Won’t that be suspicious, though? Officer Uchida said someone caught us doing something and she was suspicious of us, wasn’t she? I don’t know if we should like, take him back to the police station.”

“None of us can escort him, then.” Yukiko says, her index on her chin as she thinks to herself, “but, is Kanji-san in a state where he can go back on his own?”

Kanji snorts and punches a fist into his palm, “yeah, I’m great! Whatever that Naoya guy did, helped out a ton, so, thanks man. But, what’d’ya guys mean when ya say that she’ll be suspicious of you lot?”

Chie rubs her brow. “Um, we were the ones who found Yukiko and Konishi-senpai when they went missing,” she says and thankfully Kanji seems to recognise that both of them are people who go missing, “so, we’re kinda under suspicion, a little, of something from the police.”

He hums and rubs his chin. “Prob’ly thinkin’ you’re doin’ some uhh vigilante work, or whatever. ‘cause didn’t that Yamano news reporter also go missin’? If she died, and y’guys didn’t save her, maybe they don’t think you killed her?”

“It’d be a very weird and complex scheme for us to try and pull off if they think we’re the killer,” Yu says, “and really illogical.”

Yosuke rubs at the back of his neck, looking thoughtful for a moment. “If Kanji-kun’s feeling okay, then we should probably just let him walk to the police back on his own with the lie that he like managed to fight his way out and escape. But, aren’t you guys more worried ‘bout the fact that Kanji actually almost died?”

That does strike them as odd now that he mentions it. They tap their chin. “Didn’t Teddie state before that when it gets foggy outside, the demon world goes crazy? Didn’t that happen too early, you think?”

“The demons were hitting harder than before…” Chie says uneasily. “But… that doesn’t make sense. We checked the weather report constantly. Why would it get foggy sooner than later? And we didn’t see any rain near the palace, did we?”

“When we get outside,” Yukiko says, “we’ll see for ourselves what happened. The Velvet Room we’re in… we entered it through the door near the palace, right? So maybe the one in the main area is different.”

* * *

As Yukiko predicts, the area around the main hub is covered in a curtain of rain. None of them get wet, but that still means the worst happens – the fog happens sooner than any of them expect. For a moment, Yu tries to think what the patterns may be –

It rains ferociously for about two days, then suddenly stops today. What does that mean? Teddie is at the main area again, looking very panicked as he does. “Oh my god! Sensei, you’re okay!” he cries out when he sees Yu, chittering nervously as he does, “when it started raining I got so scared, but then you guys started doing all that weird stuff and ran up and just kept going and I had no clue what was going on so I just stayed quiet because it was so scary!”

They hug him to help him calm down and then let him know that they are stepping outside. They leave Junes quickly and Kanji separates from them soon after to march towards the police station and their suspicions are confirmed when they step outside: today is a foggy day now. Does this mean that they have to pay even more attention to the weather forecast now?

Yu decides to ask a random pedestrian who gives them a _look _before stating that the weather forecast updates half an hour ago to warn everyone of a fog.

Their heart sinks.

For now, they can’t loiter around so they give everyone their goodbyes and proceed to walk back home, sending Chisato a message that they are coming home.

“Excuse me.” a husky voice surprises them and they almost drop their phone, though they do actually drop it when a hand touches their back. It clatters noisily on the ground but thankfully doesn’t break. They try not to yank themself away and instead walk forward and turn around to see who it is who calls out to them –

Slightly shorter than Yu and dressed in all blue is a boy, maybe around the same age as Kanji, and they look at him uncomprehendingly. He bends down, grabs Yu’s phone, and offers it back to them – they snatch it back a bit too harshly.

“I’m sorry,” Yu says before the boy can say anything else, “I don’t have time to, right now –”

“But you’re the one who found Tatsumi Kanji, aren’t you?” he says accusatorily and Yu hates to admit that they maybe take a step back. “You’re the ones who found everyone else, too. You know something that the police don’t and you won’t tell them, right?”

They shake their head. “Please,” they say softly, hoping that they don’t have to stoop down to violence to try and leave, “I just want to go home, if that’s okay. Please.”

He looks like he wants to say something else but they took one, proper look at Yu and then relents. He watches them leave hastily and they don’t want to think about what it means that he seems to know more than he should.

The only thing they want to do is go home and hug Nanako and maybe ignore everything else that happens. They have a lot on their mind right now and they still have some time to do homework, at least.

Why can’t life be easy?


	20. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I update so fast?
> 
> I had a brain worm for this fic that I just had to get out. I'm so sorry.

Yosuke invites them over to help him study physics, which is kind of funny in hindsight given that physics is their worst subject but they are most definitely better than Yosuke or Chie. Yukiko, apparently, is so god-awful that physics that the teacher considers giving her assignments where she can look at her notes instead just so that she doesn’t deal with her ineptitude. Yu feels kind of sorry for her, then they decide they shouldn’t – so they don’t.

If only everything else is that easy.

Chie is there as well, sitting on the bench in the park, scratching her head with her pencil and squinting but still going on. Yosuke has his head deep into his notebook that Yu wonders if he is dead. A kick to the ass has him yelping up and waking up near immediately, that is assuming he is asleep at all. They slide in next to him, dressed in something casual this time – a sweater and plain jeans, something for the cooling weather.

“Oh, partner!” Yosuke says chirpily and Yu tries not to flinch at the nickname. They manage to smile at them both when the two of them greet them. “God, I’m so glad you’re here, dude, Chie-chan can’t do shit with _addition-_”

“Hey!” she protests, “I know how to add! Physics is more than just adding!” she calls out and Yu shakes their head.

They run their hand through their hair and then pause when their fingers get to the end of their hair and then limply drop it down onto their lap. They grab at their school supplies, look up, and take in the way Chie ruffles her own hair, smiles widely at them, and they reach over to peek at her homework.

“Oh,” Yu says after a moment, “you really, really are terrible at maths.”

She cries out. “stop! I’m not that bad, I swear!”

Studying goes well, all things considering. They manage to solidify their own learnings while helping Yosuke and Chie out, which is great all things considering. They are alone now, Yosuke wanting to go visit Konishi-san and Chie herself running off to the Amagi inn. Sending a text to Chisato, they take this as an opportunity to go on a walk and let their feet lead them, their mind elsewhere.

It feels almost poetic that they find themself in front of Tatsumi textiles, no delivery van in front this time. They must not need supplies this time. They wonder if they should go in, but their feet make the choice for them – they are at the door to the shop before they can even decide to turn around and run and they are opening it up already.

A woman, older than auntie Chisato, sits at the counter. The shop is small and cozy, complementing her warm outfit and her gentle expression. She welcomes them in with a small bow and a gentle look in her eyes, and they flounder for a little bit before finally bowing back and saying, “I’m sorry, ma’am, my name is Narukami Yu. Is Kanji-san here?”

Her expression turns curious before she nods and turns towards the staff’s only door behind her, “Kanji!” she yells out and a loud thump followed by an ‘ow!’ answers her, “a friend is here to see you, a Narukamu Yu?”

“Oh- yeah, comin’ ma!” a familiar, rough voice responds and soon enough Kanji’s tall form is slinking out of the staff’s only door, a sewing kit in hand that he hastily throws behind himself. “Uh, hi.” he says awkwardly when he sees Yu, scratching the back of his head as he does, “um, hey.”

“Do you mind if we speak in private?” Yu says after turning towards Kanji’s mother, bowing briefly again out of nervousness more than anything else. “I want to ask Kanji-san a few questions, if possible.”

He looks nervous as Yu asks him to join them, even more so when they take him to the Chinese restaurant and buy some food, though for him they only get something to drink. He isn’t hungry, he says – has his ‘ma’s cooking’. There is no one else in the Chinese restaurant and they sit in a corner booth, where no one else will bother the two of them.

“You seem to be doing really well,” Yu says, “it’s only been a day for you, and you’re already up and going again. Yukiko-san and Chie-san took some time before they recovered.” They look into his eyes but immediately look down, even if his expression is simply that of awkward nervousness. “I hope you’ve doing well.”

He shifts a little awkwardly, then looks down at their feet and then back up, “uh, yeah. I felt tired for a bit, but then I came home after visitin’ the cops, slept for like, an entire day, then I felt as good as new honestly. I’uhno, maybe I’m just, y’know, a weirdo, a little bit, I guess.” the two of them can’t really look at each other, which isn’t really helping this conversation any. They curl their hands on their lap after having finished their meal, short nails digging into their palm. “Um… how’ve you guys been doing…?”

“We’re okay.” Yu says gently, “I’m sorry if I just pulled you out here out of nowhere.” they reach up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind their ear, then ruffle and mess their own hair up in front of Kanji who yelps in surprise to see them do that. They bury their face in their hands after their hair is sufficiently wild and wavy enough, breathing in and out deeply for a while before raising their head up to look at him.

“I’m sorry we were late.” Yu says, sitting up properly as they do. They click their heels together and smile at him, as shaky as it is. “We didn’t… we thought we still had a few more days before it got foggy out.”

Kanji furrows his brow. “Yeah, you guys were freakin’ out about that. Why?”

“When… when the fog outside is heavy, then the demons inside… they get angry. And violent. And that’s what will kill people inside of the TV world.” they look around once more just to make sure no one is listening in on their utterly insane conversation, “my friends and I have been going in to save people from the TV world, and – and we all have the same thing that you have. I just… wanted to talk to you and let you know. I’m sorry.”

He stares at them for a while, mostly at their hair, his lips a thin, flat line on his face. “I could’ve died, then, issat what ye’re sayin’?” he says after a long moment of silence. He takes a sip of his tea (dark and bitter), stares down at the table between them, then looks up again. “But it musta been hard for you, huh?”

“Huh?”

“Musta been hard for you. When ya came in t’save me, you liked like you were boutta die yourself.” he says, concern bleeding into his voice, “you okay yourself? I mean, I know that pretty boy healed you, but…”

“I’m good.” Yu says, sincerely surprised. “I just came back from studying with my friends… we’re all fine. But… hum.” they take in a deep breath. “Thank you for keeping me company, but I think I’m going to go now – it’s approaching evening, and I don’t want to worry my aunt.”

He sits up and nods, scratching his bare shoulder as he does, then grabs at his jacket. A pensive expression takes over his face when he comes to a stand and for a moment, Yu wants to know what he’s thinking about. Instead, they ask a rather stupid question for two people about to leave: “what happened between you and your Shadow?”

Kanji pauses mid-way through putting his jacket on but resumes hastily. “Lotta cryin’ from him, but… somethin’… somethin’ I definitely needed. Reminder that sometimes y’gotta look out for yourself, but not to let your self-preservation hurt people, ya dig?” he fluffs his jacket lapels and zips it up, shoves his hands into his pockets, then turns to look at Yu who also stands up. “Take care, okay? See ya.”

“Goodbye.” they give him a small wave as he walks away, buys some food-to-go for Nanako and auntie Chisato, then finally make their leave.

* * *

It is just their luck that it starts raining when they decide to leave the shop after waiting for their orders. Kanji is more than likely home by now and they have no umbrella with them, so they have to hold their bag over their head and then try and sprint like mad while careful of the lunch they hold – only for the onslaught of rain to abruptly stop over their head. A shadow overtakes them briefly.

They look up, then behind them –

Adachi grins at them.

“Hey, kiddo. Need a ride?” he asks kindly, gesturing over to his cop car – maybe stopping on patrol? But the police sirens aren’t there, which means he is most definitely off-duty now. They come to a proper stand, bag still over their head, and Adachi raises an eyebrow. They sheepishly put their arm down.

They bow, belatedly, towards him and he laughs. “Yes, if that’s okay, Adachi-san. The next bus was going to be late.”

“Mhm. Busy kid, aren’t you?” he says, manoeuvring around so he is standing at Yu’s left, and he claps a hand onto their right shoulder. Friendly camaraderie. They try not to tense beneath his strong grip. They try not to think back to the last time they see him. “Chisato-chan’s lucky to have you.” he tugs Yu along, almost as though trying to lead them by the shoulder, before letting go and allowing them to follow with their own pace.

His strides are long and wide. Yu has to make sure to keep up, no matter how small the distance is. Rain pelts harshly against his umbrella, splattering at Adachi’s shoes even with the large rather cover they have. The journey to his car feels longer than it should be. With a plain click, the car doors open up and Yu puts the food in the backseat, having bought a little excess for if they feel hungry later.

Adachi pats at the passenger’s seat with a smile on his face when Yu considers going into the backseat. Wordlessly, they take a seat next to him and buckle up – the drive will be two times shorter than taking the bus, at least. A nice, sweet smell greets their nose when they properly settle in and they take notice of the car fresheners he has –

He laughs when he notices what Yu is looking at. “Yeah, smell good, don’t they? Thought I needed them after a particularly bad night, drunk and all.”

“Oh.”

“Before you ask, Yu-kun, I didn’t puke. Co-worker did. Don’t worry, car's clean as a whistle.”

“Oh,” they repeat, “I’m glad.”

Adachi doesn’t seem to want to let either of them sit in silence, as even with Yu’s shyness he keeps going, “Dojima-san and I were drinkin’ buddies when he was still alive. Good guy, but man he drank. I had a better alcohol tolerance than he did, not by much but still, and he always took that as a challenge. It was fun, y’know.”

They shift a little awkwardly. “Auntie Chisato used to mention that sometimes,” they say after a little while, “that uncle Ryoutarou would always have fun drinking with his partner even after a really bad day at work. Thank you for taking care of my uncle.”

The laughter that escapes Adachi makes them jolt. “No problem, kid. Sometimes I miss the guy; no one else got as wild and as rowdy as he did when he drank. Always wanted to make him stop, technically was my superior and all, but… he liked a challenge. Always did.”

He smiles widely, crookedly. The car comes to a slow stop and Yu fiddles with their fingers, then nearly gasps and jolts away when they feel fingers stroke across their hair. They look over to Adachi with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

“You look nice with this hairstyle.” he says nonchalantly, as though he isn’t just casually stroking Yu’s hair. They focus on inhaling and exhaling for a little bit, just watching Adachi as he goes back to driving casually. “But you definitely didn’t style it this way, did’ja? Prob’ly messed it up somehow. Rain?”

Yu shifts a little. “Yes, something like that.”

“Heh. This is an accident, and you still look nice. Got a girlfriend yet, Yu-kun?”

They gasp. “N-no! I have to worry about – about school, and then going to university, a good one, and I have to focus on what I want to be in the future and—”

“Yu, Yu. Slow down.” Adachi laughs kind-heartedly, but their own heart is hammering against their ribcage. “Man, you’re a cute kid. I was nowhere near as nice and as diligent as you were – I was my very own troublemaker, but I still liked to think I did well in school. You should live a little, though; get a girlfriend, have a good last of the year. Smile.”

They swallow the lump in their throat down and try to remind themself that Adachi is just trying to be nice.

“Maybe one day when Chisato-chan and Nanako-chan aren’t home, I’ll let you drink some beer.”

“Beer?”

“Yeah. Just a little fun between the boys, wanna see if you got that Dojima-san blood in you. See if you got an affinity for alcohol like he did.”

They twiddle their thumbs. “I’ll… I’ll try one sip, Adachi-san.”

Adachi lets out an exaggerated sigh while he takes a turn, looking put-off by Yu’s teensy promise. “Aw, but a little sip doesn’t get you as blabbermouth as Dojima used to get.” they tense up. “He used to say some interesting stuff and… You know, I’ve been thinkin’ about something he told me once, actually, when he was all… drunk and noisy.” they can’t help but look at him. “Curious thing.”

He goes silent and it becomes evident that he won’t continue unless Yu does. Uncertainly, they ask, “what did my uncle tell you?”

Adachi taps his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to do his best to look pensive, but he can only smile at the end.

“He told me he had the cutest niece ever.”

Their heartbeat comes to an abrupt and alarming halt. They blink and take way too long to respond before finally saying, “I used to wear my mom’s clothes when I was a kid, he probably said it as a joke. A shared joke between… my mom and him… Something like that?”

Adachi hums. “Yeah? I’d love to see those pictures of you, probably funny to see. You were one of those boys who played with his mom’s stuff ‘cause he thought they were all toys, huh?”

They laugh and try not to choke on their own spit. “Adachi-san wasn’t?”

“Nah.”

He doesn’t say anything else after that. The rest of the ride is filled only with the sound of their rapid, panicking heartbeat as Adachi drives them up to their house, the rain having stopped some time ago so he doesn’t need to help them to the door either. They thank him for the car ride and he gives Yu a silly little two-fingered salute before he is driving way.

The moment Adachi’s car is out of sight, they crumble down into a ball at the sidewalk and try to _breathe. _

In, out, in –

It’s just Adachi. He’s just curious. It’s just Adachi. He won’t do anything. He seems a bit ditzy. He’s just eccentric. It’s just Adachi.

It’s just Adachi.


	21. Chapter 19

They don’t tell Chisato about what happens with Adachi. They simply say hello to her, do their final assignments and then go to bed soon after. They are almost at the point where exams begin, though some teachers have them submitting assignments in as well to calculate their grades. In a few days, their break will begin and then the next semester will come rolling in. They cannot be spending these last few days stressing out over Adachi –

He just seems a bit ditzy in a way that officer Uchida isn’t – she seems well put-together, probably not as distracted, and she doesn’t seem to be the alcohol-drinking type. They curl into their bed that night, making sure to face away from the TV, and try not to focus on anything but going to sleep.

It takes a while but eventually, Yu drifts off into dreams.

They are in the Velvet Room again. Naoya is there, but there is no Pianist-San, no Belladonna, no Igor. Someone hums in the background, their voice higher pitched and soft, feminine, and soon the person breaks out into some sort of chanting – several other voices soon join. Masculine, feminine, soothing, hurtful, all of them blend together to create a cacophony – a hymn.

Naoya sits in the middle of the Velvet Room, hand lifting up so that he may admire a butterfly sitting on his index –

The very same butterfly that leads them to Kanji just before his Shadow devours him.

They gasp. The butterfly flutters off of Naoya’s finger and flies in circles above them both, shimmering trails following behind the insect. Naoya sits up properly, legs crossed and hands folding on his knee, and he smiles at Yu.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” he says and Yu takes a few steps further. They open the door that slams down in front of them and bend down, sliding in as though taking a seat in a car. They sit in front of him, back straight and body tense. Naoya smiles curiously at them. “You almost didn’t make it last time, huh?” he says conversationally, as though Yu’s almost-failure isn’t anything to be upset over, really. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

They swallow the lump in their throat, clench at their pajama pants, then finally ask, “what’s happening?” Naoya stares at them, waiting for them to continue. “The fog came sooner than it should have. We checked the forecast – we should have had more time. Why did this happen?”

He unfolds his hands and crosses his arms in front of him, tilting his head to the side while his smile fades. Yu continues on, “he almost died – because something happened. But I don’t know what it is, but something happened, didn’t it? What happened?”

“Do you have anything you’re passionate about? You do, don’t you?” Naoya says, startling them briefly. Their anger ebbs to instead give way to confusion. “I used to be passionate about philosophy and criminal justice, you know. I was going to be a lawyer.” they stare at him uncomprehendingly, eyes wide. “Things didn’t pan out that way, and I’m here now.”

Yu stares at him for a moment. “You’re changing the subject,” they acknowledge, but decide to play along and say, “are you… dead?”

He blinks slowly. “No, maybe? Not sure. I haven’t been here for a long time, but I feel like I’ve been here for far longer. This is just how things are, so I can’t question them – not really.” he shrugs. “But I remember being serious about it, really. Criminal justice. And maybe the philosophy around what criminalizes people.”

“I didn’t take you for that sort of person.” they say.

Naoya shakes his head. “I don’t blame ya, really.” he looks off to the side, as though looking for someone that isn’t there. He raises a hand up, index stretched out, and the butterfly slowly, gently flutters down to perch on his finger. “Some things happened to me in life and I changed, but there wasn’t a lot I could do about anything but myself. The things that happened around me, changed me – for the better? For the worse? If my friends were here, maybe they could tell you.”

“Your friends? Do you mean… people like Igor?”

“No, but that doesn’t matter. I don’t really remember who my friends are anymore – I’m the owner of the Velvet Room, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Why are we talking about this? Is there some point to this? I want to know why it is that we were too late for Kanji-san when we came early. Why did the fog happen sooner? Why won’t you answer me? Whatever rant –”

Naoya sighs loudly, interrupting them. He brings the butterfly up to his ear, then extends his arm and allows for the butterfly to take off and fly circles around them.

“You made a deal with us, do you remember that?” Naoya says, though his eyes are on the butterfly and not on Yu, “I was hoping you wouldn’t come to Inaba, especially because of someone here.” they decide to look upon the butterfly as well, trying to follow its movement as best they can.

“Can you tell me who it is?”

The butterfly glows before dimming down and flickering several times. “No,” Naoya says soon after, “no I cannot. And I’m sorry I can’t. I really am.”

Somehow, they believe him.

“It was a race to get to you, you know. If you… if you had been born in a different time, the Velvet Room would have been much different – I don’t really have as fine a control on this place as you think I do.” Naoya stops staring at the butterfly and soon looks at them while he tugs a stray piece of hair behind his ear. “You made a deal with us, and even if we aren’t that someone else… this would still happen. You’re right, Yu. Something is happening – and you have to remember the terms of our agreement. You have to remember what you agreed to.”

They look back at Naoya and startle at the intense look in his eyes, the sudden seriousness – all playfulness is gone and they look down at their hands just to avoid his gaze. “Then… is all of this my fault? Would the people of Inaba have lived peacefully if I never came here?”

“I don’t know.” he says. “But failure, or success, it doesn't matter. You have to keep going. That is just how life is."

Their environment suddenly jolts, inertia knocking them forward for a moment before they grab at the seat they’re on. Naoya looks out towards the opening door, towards the blinding lights, and smiles. The butterfly bolts out, the hymn come to a halt.

“Time for you to wake up now, Yu-san.”

* * *

“Holy shit dude, you okay?” is the first thing Yosuke greets them with when they arrive to school today. They glare at him and Yukiko and Chie share a look. “Did you, uh, did you sleep well?” Yosuke manages out after a little bit, though whatever that Yu looks like must be so bad that he is still staring at them with barely concealed concern.

“I had a nightmare,” they lie, “and I slept badly. Can we get through school today before you start interrogating me over how I feel? Because the answer is not good. I feel ‘not good’. Thank you.”

The teachers are just doing review at this point, which doesn’t really do much for Yu as they at least understand the material well enough. They run their hands through their hair, which has been growing out a little. They are most definitely going to have to ask auntie Chisato to take them somewhere so that they can get a haircut.

Yosuke and Chie argue over silly things when the lunch break rolls along with Yukiko and Yu sitting together to compare notes from some of their classes. Yukiko is a bright student, stupid in sciences but great in everything else, and they do pretty well at biology and chemistry while history and Japanese is their worst subjects.

They can’t really focus on the material to do what the teachers need them to do. With Ms. Sofue, at least they can sometimes come to her to talk to her about a few things – specifically things that don’t have to do with history, but still. They don’t really get the time to talk to the P.E teacher, as overworked as he is, and they still haven’t mustered up the courage to ask auntie Chisato to drive them out to that LGBT+ meetup that Ms. Sofue shows them.

It is at the end of the day when everyone is about to separate that an unexpected person yells out and runs up to them –

“Yu-senpai! Hey, wait!” Kanji yells out to them as he begins sprinting their way, dressed in the Yasogami high uniform – except for the fact that he has the jacket tied around his waist. He wheezes after finally getting to them, though it seems more over the fact that he spends a long time probably searching for them before he finds them at the entrance gate. “H- hey. Did anyone tell you guys that y’all are hard as hell to find?”

Yu blinks. “Not really.” they shift on their feet, staring at him blankly, before saying, “do you want to go to a café with us to talk?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, uh- sure! Sure. Sounds good, man. Yeah.”

It doesn’t get any less awkward now that they aren’t in a school environment. Kanji sits next to Yu after a bit of insistence from their end, with Yusuke sitting with Chie and Yukiko squished awkwardly between him and her. Cups of tea sit before them, though Yosuke gets some coffee, and Yu pokes at their cake for a moment.

“Is there something we can help you with, Kanji-san?” Yukiko finally says, breaking through the awkward silence, and he jolts up in surprise. “You seemed like you wanted to say something?”

Their younger, underclassman scratches the back of his neck, swipes at his nose a few times, before he yells and surprises them all. Everyone else stares at their booth, while the baristas peek at them wondering what is going on. When they see it’s Kanji, the baristas look away. Is he that infamous?

“AaaAAAHHH DAMN IT! Okay! I’m gonna stop pussy footin’ around!” he slams his hand into his palm, probably to try and keep himself from punching the table, “look. I wanna help you guys! Y’all saved me, an’ I wanna pay you guys back. I got that uhhh… persona thing you guys have, right!?”

Yosuke scratches his ear. “Uh, yeah. We all got personas.”

“Yeah! Right!” he points at Yosuke, and he flinches. “I wanna help y’all out, especially with how ragged you guys looked. You okay with that? With me helpin’ out?”

Chie hums and haws for a little bit, her face scrunching up before she nods slowly and says, “yeah, okay. I can – we can do that. I mean, you’d have to ask Yu-kun, he’s the like, y’know, leader.” she peeks over at Yukiko, shyly, who looks back at her when she finally notices and smiles gently at her. They wonder what is going on between the two.

“You can join us,” they say plainly, “the more help we can get, the better. I think things are going to get much, much more difficult for us, and having any help counts. We’ll try and walk you through the whole thing – I’m going to take us to the TV world again soon,”

“Wait, you are?” Yosuke asks. They promptly ignore him.

“That way, you can get used to it as much as possible.”

Kanji blinks. He crosses his arms and then sinks into the booth bench a little, frowning as he does, “I – yeah. That’s – we can do it, we can go back there… but, if we go back – will you hear the same things I heard, then?”

“What? Oh, do you mean – do you mean the things that were happening in your palace?” Yukiko says. “… we heard a lot of whispering. I won’t repeat what they said, but – I don’t know. I think the only ones who ever went to a place after a fact were…” she indicates to the three of them.

Yosuke speaks up, “but the lady we went back to was dead. You’re not dead, so I don’t think you gotta worry about anything.”

“Yeah, guess not.”

The conversation soon falls into a bit of an uneasy one about school and the upcoming end of the semester, and Yu wonders – for a moment – if they should mention that one boy who calls them out for finding Kanji, but they don’t know if they should right now. The mood is only just slowly improving… yet, if they don’t say it now, then when will they say it?

Taking in a deep breath, they break through the entire conversation soon enough, “someone approached me after we found Kanji-san.”

It takes a moment for everyone to cotton onto what Yu means and Yosuke leans close, brows furrowing. “Was it someone we knew? Officer Uchida?”

They shake their head. “No, it was a boy we’ve never met before. He was dressed in all blue and he asked me if I’m the one who found Kanji-san—”

“Wait.” Kanji interrupts, sitting up straight and looking serious as he does, “short kid? Blue hat? Seemed a lil’ accusatory?”

“… Have you met him?”

He nods his head. “Yeah, he came up to me after I got interviewed. Asked me a buncha stuff and if I believed in the whole Midnight Channel thing – at the time, I told ‘im I don’t, ‘cause I really didn’t. Thought it was dumb.”

“Do you think he was the one who did this to you? Did he ask me if I saved you because he wanted you to die?” they cross their arms.

“I – I don’t think so, actually.” Kanji rubs his chin. “‘cause when he came up to me, the first thing he said was t’keep my eye out. An’ – also, the guy who knocked me out? He was just as tall as me, maybe like, a smidge taller – a millimeter more, maybe. I swore I saw the guy’s face, though, but… I only remember there was a delivery van…”

“A van?” Yukiko sits up abruptly, eyes wide, “wait, wait. I saw a van too. I – I remember now. It was a big delivery van that came to the Amagi Inn at night. I remember…” she rubs her forehead, as if trying to soothe a headache. “But I don’t remember who threw me in. It was dark, and I didn’t want to be there anymore, so I was trying to get it over with – I wasn’t paying attention when he knocked me out.”

Kanji looks at her with big wide eyes, his hands on the table and clenching it tightly, “the dude needed my ma’s handwriting, that’s what he said. He had a box with ‘im, but, ‘cause I didn’t order it and I was like, seventeen and stuff, and legal stuff, I went to the shop to look for my ma- my mom and he got me while I was in the shop. He had his head down the whole time, like he was uncomfortable.

“I just blamed it on the fact that people just find me scary, y’know?”

The two kidnap victims look at one another with some form of understanding and connection, as though them being stolen away and thrown into some sort of weird, demon world is somehow friendship inducing. They think that people of the same trauma just share better connection, to the point of harm sometimes – if the only other person you speak to about your trauma only confirms how you feel and never challenges you, how is one to grow?

They all talk about the mysterious kidnapper a little more, but learn nothing new. The appearance of “blue boy” leaves them all curious, but they ask Kanji what else they know and get a few takeaways:

  * The boy seems as nosy as they are, as he chases after Kanji to ask him if he thinks he will be kidnapped thanks to being interviewed for something he doesn’t commit.
  * He interviews Kanji non-stop about everything he knows in regards to Inaba and then later on talks about Yasogami high, the reporter, and the politician. 
    * Oddly, Kanji actually keeps up with the news in regards to politics and they learn something new: the man cheating on his wife gets disgraced for it then divorced, and because of his shame he drops out of the running. He is actually in Inaba, but Kanji doesn’t know what he does.
  * ‘blue boy’ is from the city and doesn’t actually live in Inaba, evidenced by the fact that he corners Kanji while wearing another school’s uniform. He apparently comes again to Kanji a day later in the outfit that Yu first sees him in.
  * He sees officer Uchida and blue boy together talking about something before officer Uchida drives him off somewhere.

Yu thinks that they can safely conclude that blue boy has nothing to do with the murders, but the fact that he speaks to Uchida makes them curious. The only way they can really get any information about that exchange, though, is by other finding where officer Uchida is and asking her questions… and the only person they know who can tell them her residence is Adachi.

A lump forms in their throat and they order more tea to drown it. They actually eat their cake and lose themself in their thought while the other four try (and maybe fail) to get along with one another. Kanji’s personality meshes oddly with the rest, given that he keeps stopping and restarting sentences that he can’t seem to get together.

Despite his tough-guy exterior he can’t seem to keep a conversation going, not really. He seems like a nice guy, they think.

It is during which the conversation steers back to blue boy, where Kanji mentions briefly that he ‘was pretty cute looking, honestly’ that Yu suddenly finds themself freezing up. Their grip around their fork tightens and they try not to bring attention to themself, especially at the fact that Kanji doesn’t seem to realise he calls a boy cute. There isn’t an issue with that, really, there isn’t.

But for some reason that comment makes them think of Adachi. It makes them think of him accusing Yu of playing detective. A hand on their shoulder, telling them to stop.

‘looking for a kid to play detective.’

They don’t want to bring Adachi up to the rest – they will just wait and see what happens. Isn’t it better if they tell the rest, however? They put the last piece of cake in their mouth, meaning they only have their tea to keep themself busy.

The rest get loud and noisy over some TV show, or something. Yosuke, having withdrawn after that ‘cute’ comment, gets loud and defensive over his favourite TV show and Chie scoffs at him. Yukiko looks happy as well, giggling at some of their comments and chastising both Yosuke and Kanji when they make an ‘uneducated plebeian comment’ about the show. Chie tells Yukiko she doesn’t get it, and the girl launches into an oral essay about the greatness of the show.

Everyone seems so relaxed right now.

A chill runs up their spine. Goosebumps appear all over their body and they hide their shaking hands under the table. Their fingertips feel cold. They sit up straighter and then peek over their shoulder to see if anyone is there.

A cop car passes by outside, probably on patrol ever since the kidnappings and the successful murder. Maybe because of officer Uchida. They steal glances behind them, trying to see if the cop car comes to a stop.

It doesn’t. It goes in a route then stops elsewhere. No police officer approaches the café. They drink the rest of their tea, excuse themself to go home, and Kanji says that he should probably go home too.

“I’ll walk with Yu-senpai a bit, if ya guys don’t mind. I gotta go home too, my mom’s probably worried over me.” he waves goodbye to the rest and leaves his portion of the bill on the table. Yu hastily does the same. He follows them outside, hands in his jacket pockets, and they look around for the cop car.

“Are you okay?” they whirl around in surprise, looking at Kanji’s concerned face with a blank stare. “You looked super uncomfy in the café there, did somethin’ happen? Ya kept lookin’ over your shoulder.” he says and kicks at a rock on the sidewalk, shoulders bundling up a little. “I like, don’t wanna seem like I’m oversteppin’ but, you just seemed really… anxious suddenly, I guess.”

“Oh,” they consider telling him about Adachi, their first run-in with him, the fact that he overhears them snooping, and swallow, “no, I’m okay. I think I’m just stressed over both school and the Midnight Channel. Thank you for looking out for me.”

“Um, no prob, senpai. Ya ever need my help beatin’ bullies up, lemme know, okay? I mean, not that – I mean, you’re a super good lookin’ guy, not – not like, you know, that I – but you’re good lookin’ as hell, you prob’ly don’t got a lotta people tryin’ to cause shit with you, or – you look like a pretty boy, but no one’s gonna – gonna fault you for that, or…”

Their hand shakes as it raises up, trembling something awful. Kanji stares at them, silenced by the gesture as Yu reaches out and puts an awkward hand on his shoulder. A part of them wants to yank their hand back.

“It’s okay, Kanji-san.” they finally say, “you don’t have to worry about it. I’m sorry that – I hope that this year of school does well for you and, you know, I never realised you went to school. I thought… I thought you dropped out.”

Yu takes their hand back quickly and Kanji, looking confused, does manage to catch himself in time to respond. “Oh, uh. I – I did stuff from home, and – I’d come back after school was done and it was club time to hand in my assignments or to do my tests ‘cause of Mr. Morooka.”

“King Moron? What do you mean?”

“Oh, ya didn’t know? Ah, why would’ja? He convinced the school t’work somethin’ out so I could still get a year of schoolin’ done in juvy, he’d come to personally gimme notes or teach me stuff, then he convinced the teachers to lemme do stuff from home. But… I think I wanna come to school now, I wanna try an’ be myself.”

They look at him with quickly concealed awe, and also obvious shock and disbelief. “King Moron? He did all that?”

“Yeah, surprised me too. Guy was always harsh as hell on me.” he rubs his nose. “Anyway, I gotta go now. See ya later, senpai. Be safe, okay?”

“Goodbye, Kanji-san.”

Chisato actually comes and picks them up just as she is about to return from her own shopping, stumbling onto Yu by chance, and they talk a little in the car. At home, she surprises Nanako with her favourite cake and they all have some dessert even if Yu feels a little full by the end of the day.

Seeing Nanako’s happy, smiling face as they agree to watch one episode of Super Sentai with her melts all of their tension away before they are apologising and then going to bed early tonight. They check on the weather forecast and decide not to watch the Midnight Channel tonight.

They don’t want anymore stress today.


	22. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back to earlier chapters and edited mentions of "Tamaki" into "Uchida" to fit the fact that Yu refers to Adachi by his last name in narration but not Tamaki, which made no sense to me in hindsight and made it seem like Yu was disrespecting Tamaki.
> 
> If you see I forgot any mentions, tell me the chapter (specifically go like, Chapter 4: Chapter 3 so I know what you're saying) so I can go and fix it! Thank you!

If Naoto is going to be honest to anyone, least of all herself, she has to admit this: she has no clue what the hell she saw, and she doesn’t know how to process it. The past few days has her flitting in and out of a sense of existential dread and a desperate skepticism that wants to deny what she sees. How do you explain to the police that you see a group of teenagers go in and out of a TV in an all-purpose megastore? How do you explain that?

When she thinks about it, the only answer she has to give is _‘I can’t. I can’t explain that.’ _She doesn’t know what she expects after chasing after Kanji to interrogate him, even though he comes up with nothing but healthy cynicism, but seeing that Narukami boy and his friends do _that _is _definitely not it._

She spends a few days a bit hectic, trying to trace patterns, figure something out, and put things together – so far, the only thing she has is that Yamano Mayumi dies shortly after her scandal with the politician, Namatame Taro. Following that, Amagi Yukiko gets kidnapped – and so, up until then, she has some connections.

They are both black haired females, one an adult and the other a teenager (even if eighteen), and they are both relatively attractive. The only other connection is that they both appear on TV – the former over a scandal wherein she speaks publicly, as unfortunate as the whole situation is, and the latter to be interviewed over her taking over the family business.

The other thing? Inaba. Being a reporter, Yamano appears on television numerous times in numerous different places. Her appearing on Inaba is the focal point – it is what leads her to dying a death where her body is broken and her eyes are ghastly, hollow. Uchida, despite respecting her capabilities, protests the notion of showing Naoto the photo.

“He’s too young,” she says. “We don’t… we don’t have to show him.”

She sees it anyway, and she understands why Uchida is so adamant on not showing her. The body is still destroyed in the morgue and their forensic scientist brings up nothing – it is almost as if nothingness twists her insides and drains her body and then spits her out.

The only thing they have are the connections in Naoto’s head.

When she comes along and the next victim is Kanji, however? She doesn’t know what to make of it.

He appears on the TV, but he is a punk with dyed hair and decidedly _male. _Yet - _yet, _she learns his original hair colour is black after a vigorous interrogation. Only a person who lives here long enough can piece together that Kanji’s hair is originally black given that he dyes his eyebrows as well – and someone who has ease of access to all the places here.

When she brings this up to Uchida, she smiles at Naoto in agreement and they both break into discussion. They both come to relatively similar conclusions, though Uchida seems to disagree that the perpetrator is someone who is sexually confused and not a wild misogynist. She suspects that it is something else entirely, for motives that they will only be able to unearth if they can figure out how the kidnapper works.

The thing that makes this worse is the fact that she now knows how the victims disappear so well – they are in a television. They are in a television that a bunch of senior high-school students just hop in and out of, and Naoto may or may not still be freaking out over that. She doesn’t know what to do about it, not yet –

So one day, when Uchida and her are just conversing and it is just as the officer rightfully brings up the case that Naoto ends up blurting out the stupidest sentence one can expect another to say:

“I saw Narukami Yu and his friends go into a television and then come out with Tatsumi Kanji and I don’t know how to process that.”

Uchida stares at her for a while. Then maybe a moment longer. She blinks slowly. “Okay, Shirogane-kun,” she says, eyeing Naoto carefully and she is waiting for the scolding that will foll – “I’m going to believe you.”

What?

“Okay,” Uchida says, bulldozing past Naoto’s befuddled expression, “let’s say for a moment that you’re being serious. Are you implying that the perpetrator is also jumping into the TV world to try and hide people in there?”

“Perhaps,” Naoto says, finally regaining her footing, “it seems to me that, yes, it corresponds with what I saw thus far – which is that Narukami Yu returned with the third victim and stepped out just fine. I tried to confront him when I saw him outside of Junes, but for some reason he seemed extremely uncomfortable and tired. I couldn’t tell you why, however.”

Uchida frowns, though it isn’t one of disbelief – it is the same one she usually wears when she is deep in thought over the case. She goes quiet to let herself ponder and thus Naoto lets herself watch the other woman, and for a moment something simmers beneath her skin –

Her mom will never have been in the same position as Uchida. Her mom, her mom will forever be remembered _poorly _in comparison to her father. Uchida – who sits before her, far more competent than every other officer out here – is not even a permanent member of this police force. She is only here temporarily, taking in the place of a dead man. They will replace her after this.

She wonders, bitterly, what her father will think of someone like Uchida who is far more respectable than every other officer here.

“You said that you saw him going into a TV in Junes, correct? Do you know who else was with him?” Uchida says, interrupting her thoughts, and Naoto clears her throat.

Tapping her knee, she nods. “Yes – Amagi Yukiko, Hanamura Yosuke, and Satonaka Chie. When I watched them all leave the TV, they looked tired. However, I don’t know what goes on in the TV and I don’t even know if I saw correctly.”

“That is true,” Uchida concedes dully, “then that leaves us with nothing, if we are to ignore what you saw or write it away as stress-related hallucinations. As well, even if we told the rest, they wouldn’t believe us – specifically me, and they would think I was making you go along with an insane theory.” she smiles sardonically at Naoto and, for a moment, she feels extremely humbled before the older woman. “But… we’re not getting anywhere with our investigation, and the only way we’re going to be able to advance is if either of us forces something to happen.”

Naoto squints at her. “… you want someone to be used as bait.” she guesses, and Uchida smiles at her.

“Bingo.” she finger-guns at Naoto, “someone on the police force is going to have to play victim, but I doubt any of the task force are going to do it – or even _should _do it. But if a police woman was to put herself on the line…”

“You’re going to use yourself as _bait?_”

“Of course!” Uchida beams at her and Naoto wonders, for a moment, how she can be so cheery. “I’m a woman, I look frail, and the guy seems to target either women or people who don’t want to resort to violence unless it’s a desperation tactic.”

Naoto rubs her forehead, mostly because of the fact that… yes, she agrees wholeheartedly with Uchida. If she didn’t bring it up, then Naoto will suggest it herself as well. She rubs her forehead further, then rubs at her face for a moment.

“Let me do it.” Naoto declares, “let me do it first, then you can play bait if my ploy doesn’t work. No one knows yet that I’m officially part of the investigation, right? We can use me being ‘interviewed’ after a ‘tip’ as an excuse, then afterwards you can get ‘criticized’ for bringing a little boy along when it causes me to get kidnapped.”

Uchida taps her knee. “Yeah, sure. Actually, that flows better than what I was thinking – and besides, if you happen to be right about that TV world of yours… I want to check something, a theory of mine, if you will.”

“What is the theory?”

She smiles at Naoto, then shakes her head. “If you get kidnapped and captured,” Uchida continues on then, completely ignoring her question and for a moment they are flummoxed, “you can perhaps even befriend Narukami Yu and perhaps learn a little bit more? I’m not telling you that you have to, however,” she looks at Naoto sheepishly, “but, if you do somehow get along with them… perhaps you can do more work with them than you would with us.”

They talk over the plan a little while longer – they trade back and forth ideas, whether or not this will actually work, and why it is that the perpetrator only seems interested in the TV when it comes in search for victims. They come up with no answers other than Uchida suggesting the Midnight Channel rumour, which leads Naoto to ponder on it herself.

The Midnight Channel here, despite the aloofness some people may show, is still a big deal. Even if Tatsumi Kanji is cynical over it at first he also shows a great degree of knowledge about it. The question is _why, _and if their bait plan works then maybe she will get the answer.

“Let’s wait a few weeks,” Uchida says when they are done discussing everything, “no – a week and a few days, actually. I’ll be able to take to the same reporters that Yamano Mayumi worked with and let them know what we plan on doing, though if we want this to work you’re going to have to do some very, very convincing acting, Shirogane-kun.”

Naoto shakes her head. “That will not be a problem.”

“I’ll take your word for it!” she chirps out. “Anyway, lemme go contact them now and let them know what we’re gonna do. And – just a small favour, Shirogane-kun?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t let anyone else on the force know about this. I’ll take the blame for anything that follows.”

* * *

Yu may or may not want to admit it, but they are extremely bored. Utterly, and completely bored. Yosuke is busy stressing over something, Chie and Yukiko are hanging out together, and Yu doesn’t want to be with Kanji or… anyone, really. They lay in bed, upside down with their head hanging off and bored, while rain pours outside.

They watch a bit of TV with Nanako, read a book that Chisato likes, and then sits down with them both to just chat before Yu wrestles their aunt out of the kitchen so that they can cook. They make auntie Chisato promise that she’ll let them cook once in a while to lessen the burden on her, especially now that she has to take care of them both now thanks to Yu’s circumstances.

The book that Chisato gives them is surprisingly a book on psychology made more palpable – even if they don’t really have an interest in it. She surprises them by giving them a book on criminal justice that is well-worn and used.

“Ryoutarou used to read this a lot,” she says wistfully, “he’d read it over and over again, sometimes to justify why he did the work he did. Inaba isn’t a very eventful place. I think this case that’s going on would have given him some much needed energy if he was still here.”

“You must miss him a lot, auntie Chisato.” Yu says.

“A lot, Yu-chan. A lot.”

They go to bed shortly after, though they can’t find themself falling asleep. Hours pass.

It is midnight now and the rain is now just a small, light drizzle coming to an end. They stare at the TV in their room, waiting for the Midnight Channel to spring up –

As if on cue, static overcomes the screen. A grating noise takes over their head briefly before it turns into a droning beep that eases away when something actually appears on the screen. The ever familiar TV world greets them, though this time… they sit up and stare at the TV screen.

A short, blue-haired person stands in the TV. They wear a jacket that is too large on them with the picture of a woman on said jacket, but dress relatively… simple otherwise. A white tee with Detective Conan on it, that infamous Sherlock Holmes hat clenched in their hand, a black bowtie around the person’s neck, and a pair of ripped, light blue jeans.

The person is staring off into the distance, utterly silent. They stand so still that Yu almost wonders if the person is a statue, only to be proven wrong when the person’s head finally moves and they turn to stare at the TV screen.

A familiar face stares at them. Their eyes are wide open and blue – like the picture of the woman on the jacket. The woman who… looks as similar as the person does.

_‘Relative, maybe?’ _

**“In a man’s world,” **the person says hollowly, their voice dead and dull, **“a woman can work thrice as hard and barely get any recognition. In a man’s world, a woman can step up and show great, significant progress, but be berated for emasculating the man. We point to exceptions, but then we think of them as similar to men – a woman cannot be a woman, a woman must be man-adjacent. What is the value of a person?”**

They swallow and try to calm down the tempo of their heart.

**“We see exceptions and, thus, all women must follow that impossible requirement. What is the value of a person? What determines them? What determines me?” **the person smiles bitterly, borderline cruel. **“Nothing. A father too busy to look at me, and a mother who dies a disgrace and will be forgotten. Who will remember a hardworking woman when she dies, when it is the man who shall take her credit?”**

The person turns around and walks off. The Midnight Channel turns off. Yu turns around and tries to go to sleep.


	23. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit (08-10-2020)**: Added in a line where I accounted for Saki's palace.

Yu makes sure to gather everyone by the ear towards the electronic department of Junes the moment they all are free – after getting Kanji’s phone number from him, they make sure to immediately grab him a few days after so that they can throw him into the TV world with them, hence this abrupt expedition.

They all land gracefully, except for Kanji who flails his arms and slams face first onto the floor. Teddie pokes at him with his ‘foot’, curious as to who this new person is.

“Is this the guy you just saved from the latest palace?” Teddie says as Kanji raises up while rubbing his nose and they watch as he freezes up at the sight of the little bear. He twitches his ears at Kanji, smiles, and waves at him, “hi! I’m Teddie! I’m your guide through the demon realm! Hi!”

Kanji looks at him blankly, as though processing all of this, before he – oddly kindly – says, “hey there, Teddie. Y’sound young, huh?” he reaches over and pats Teddie, who nuzzles into his palm happily at the affection, “my name’s Kanji, nice ta meetcha.”

After they get the introductions done and over with and explain a few things about the demon realm to Kanji, they whirl around to look at Teddie in the eyes. “Teddie, I need to ask you something?”

He tilts his head to the side, ears twitching curiously, “what’s the matter, sensei?” they see Kanji mouthing ‘sensei?’ at the rest, who all just collectively shrug at him. “Is something on your mind?”

“Has anything in the demon realm changed, lately?”

Teddie tenses up at that. His ears go ramrod straight, as does his spine, and he stares at Yu with widened eyes and an open mouth. He brings his paws up just to rub them together and he stares at him with his wide, baby eyes, and Yu wonders what it is that triggers his worry like this. The rest stare at Yu blankly, except for Kanji who doesn’t know what changes.

The little bear sighs before them, rubs his paws together, then speaks up again, “I – I and a buncha other demons noticed it… but lately the place’s begun to feel lighter? More of these TVs are popping up and we can _see _a little bit of the human world. Before, we used to just accept that we got banished here… that we should’ve just stayed here.”

Banished?

Wait –

They don’t get the opportunity to ask a question as Teddie continues explaining the phenomena, “we saw it – we saw blurry scenes of the real world, I could – I could see people running around, and – and it looked like some parts of the demon realm, some parts of the palaces, right?

“Some of us tried to leave through the TV.” Yukiko gasps. Yu’s voice gets caught in their throat. Yosuke and Chie both let out a well-timed ‘what?!’ and Kanji just scratches the back of his head, still trying to process what the hell is happening.

Teddie’s face goes from that of worry to happiness, an expression that only scares them further. “We can’t, you probably guessed it right? We can’t leave, but… I saw someone put her hand through the TV! Someone get her hand out, but then had to yank it out ‘cause it hurt. Sensei… she actually did it!”

They stare at Teddie, then kneel down so that they are on the same level as him. His joy gives way to confusion, then perhaps a little bit of fear as Yu places their hands on his sides.

“Teddie,” they say, “are you telling me that the demon realm is slowly seeping into the human realm?”

He nods his head. “I think so, sensei. That means we’ll get to see each other more without you having to constantly come in through the TV because of scary things happening! We might be able to live together in the future!”

Naïve as he is, Teddie doesn’t seem to realise nor cotton onto the fact that that is not a comforting thing for Yu to think about. The demon realm is seeping into the world? What is that going to mean for them? What will happen once the demons are let free into the world?

They come to a stand, let Teddie hug their legs while they rub his head, and then rub their face as they wonder what all of this means. They take a step back, turn around, and look at the rest of their team. Yosuke is staring at them intensely, his gaze indicating the look of someone ready to fight to the last, and yet Yu can’t look him in the eyes for long. Kanji, finally, seems to comprehend what is happening, but he seems utterly blown back by the realisation. Yukiko and Chie are huddled next to one another, murmuring something.

Chie’s hand shakes and twitches closer to Yukiko in a moment where she isn’t paying attention but drops immediately when Yosuke and Kanji come closer to circle around and talk.

Yu initially brings them to the demon world to try and get them to train, see if they can somehow get stronger through fighting, and they didn’t expect their questioning to bring this to light. Something is happening and Teddie doesn’t really know what it is – he sees it a good omen. Something is happening, and Naoya cannot tell them.

“Hey!” Yu calls out, “we’re here to train. We can’t think about what this means just now, let’s go.”

* * *

Teddie tells them that the palaces that pop up don’t go away and simply stay behind as plain remnants. No shadow speaks to them when they go through Yukiko’s palace which confirms Yosuke’s surprisingly accurate guess.

It leaves them wondering if peoples’ souls can be caught and stuck within the demon realm, and what that may mean. But then - what about Konishi Saki? Then again, she does technically lose to her shadow but manages to cling onto life long enough to come back. Her will to live is far stronger than her shadow's will to devour, which makes them wonder about the kind of woman she is. They wish, for a second, that they come here a year earlier - just to be her friend, just to understand her better.

She has a strong will to live, a strong will to take care of the family that belittles her. What does it mean to lose to your shadow, Yu wonders. What will become of you? Why does the reporter have to die? Who demands her to die?

... What does it mean to die?

Instead of mulling about wondering what this all means, they instead decide to get everyone fighting and have Kanji prepared for the future in case they go to another palace –

And given what they’ve seen, they know they will be going to another palace soon. The palace of that blue boy, specifically. A part of them is curious, however; the shadow on the Midnight Channel speaks of the worth of a woman in comparison to a man. A feminist? A part of them doubts it, though if they go with that explanation they also have to wonder why them being a feminist is a big deal to the shadow.

Shadows are meant to represent your regrets and darkest sides, right?

The rest don’t bring up the Midnight Channel, probably taking a break from it because… well, no one has shown up on any news channels or anything, so Yu doesn’t blame them. Them seeing the Midnight Channel is a result of restlessness that time, anyway.

During their practice, it turns out that the demons are endless and seem to keep popping back up – Teddie simply says that death is permanent, but uniqueness is mostly illusory. They try not to think about it and what it means that many of the same demons exist. They focus, instead, on Kanji and his fighting style –

Which is apparently to brawl and dish out as much damage as possible while diving in front of the others in case there is a particularly strong blow that is going to come down. He strikes with lightning and a lot of screaming, and then barrels into people while holding onto a desk he nicks from school then slams it down onto the demons.

“How did you smuggle a desk into here?” asks Yu, dumbfounded, “it wasn’t in the Velvet Room when we went to grab our weapons.”

“Yes.” says Kanji.

And that’s that, they guess.

Another thing they learn, interestingly, is the interaction between Izanagi and Take-Mikazuchi. Energy courses through them both when Yu has Izanagi as their open summon and Take-Mikazuchi’s attacks hit harder – at times, they both move on instinct and attack together, two made into one, and Kanji looks at them dumbfounded.

It is also the first time they hear something that makes them stop.

_“Take-Mikazuchi,” _Izanagi says firmly, his voice booming everyone into shock – he speaks, finally, but… _“I see you faring well. What an odd form you have taken.”_

_“And yours as well,” _Take-Mikazuchi says, amused, _“it seems we are both damned to look bizarre, lord Izanagi. What brings you here, Izanagi? You have not bothered yourself with humans for a while.”_

Izanagi shakes his head, grips his weapon tightly, then lets it fade into dust when he relaxes his fist. _“A duty.”_

The two of them speak no further than that. They face away from one another and return to their persona users, but their strength together does not fade. Whatever is going on, Yu is stronger with Kanji when Izanagi is out – but they cannot always have Izanagi with them.

Training goes well. They conclude it when Kanji seems especially tired, unused to the world like this. Despite his loud protests, he seems to appreciate it. They go back with Teddie’s guidance and then wave goodbye just before the step outside of the TV world – and then Chie drags them all to the cafeteria and makes them all sit down so that she can go order food.

“She’s energetic.” Kanji says bluntly, “like, crazy energetic. Is she, like, y’know, okay?”

“Urm, yes.” Yukiko says, “Chie is just a very cheery type of girl, I’m sorry if that caught you off-guard.”

He rubs the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “Naw, naw, it ain’t a – I mean, I guess I shoulda expected her to be like, super energetic because of the café, she was defending her show mega hard dude. I didn’t expect that…”

“Chie may have misplaced passions, as well as Yosuke-kun.”

Yosuke sits up and whines, “hey! This is about Chie-chan, NOT me! I didn’t do anything to deserve being called out for this!” he crosses his arms and huffs, looking scolded for but a second before they peek at Kanji.

Their seating this time is that Yukiko and Kanji are sitting together whereas Yosuke immediately makes a 90 degree turn and sits next to Yu. They don’t want to say anything about the awkwardness of Yosuke’s movements.

So instead, they ask something from the deep well of their brain, “how is Konishi-san doing?”

“Huh? Oh, uh- she’s good. She actually got outta the hospital like, a week or so ago. She returned all my manga even though I told her she could keep it… then she left to go to university.”

Yu shifts, “oh. I’m glad everything seemed to work out in the end, and I hope the university is merciful on her. She’s been through a lot.”

“Mhm. I confessed to her before she left, actually…”

Yukiko sits up, “wait, really?” just as Chie walks up, doing an impressive balancing act with all the trays she holds. “Chie, Yosuke-kun confessed to Saki-senpai!”

“What! Didn’t she go back to uni?”

“Yes,” Yosuke says, his voice a little clipped, “I confessed to her _before _she left.”

Kanji looks between the three of them then at Yu, who looks at him with hopefully the same expression that he has. It certainly feels that way.

“How did she take it?” Yu asks while Yukiko is fighting Chie to keep her from interrogating Yosuke.

He gives a small smile at that and a minute nod, “I don’t wanna talk about it. What happened with me and her is between me and her, after all. I’m just happy I finally told her.” Yosuke says, the smile on their face somehow growing smaller and smaller. He glances up towards Kanji, who shrinks a little, and then over to Yu. “You guys must’ve felt alienated, huh? Maybe we should talk about something else?”

“Yes, you should. I’d like to talk to you guys about what you know.” a familiar voice says from behind them, Kanji’s face lighting up with recognition and Yukiko arching an eyebrow while Chie blinks. They turn around and jolt when they see a very familiar face –

Kanji points. “Blue boy! That’s him!”

“My name is NOT blue boy!” blue boy says, looking annoyed, before rubbing his face, “my name is Shirogane Naoto, and I believe we’ve met before.” he looks directly at Yu, arms crossing as he does and head tilting back. “You come here often with your friends, I see.”

Yu looks at him helplessly, turning around fully on the cafeteria bench to look at Naoto. “I’m Narukami Yu, and I – yes. I do. Yosuke-san’s father is the management of this Junes…”

Naoto raises his hand up, signifying Yu to come to a stop, before putting his hands on his hips to survey the group.

“Uh, pipsqueak,” Yosuke says, annoyed at Naoto’s silence, “you wanna let us know why you barged into here just to interrupt –”

“As I said before,” Naoto says, “I want to talk to you guys about what you know in regards to the Shadow Kidnapper case.” Yu does their best to school their expression into something neutral while staring at Naoto, “you were the ones who found Amagi Yukiko and Konishi Saki, weren’t you? You were just talking about the latter, after all, and the former is sitting here with you now.”

Yu tenses up.

“How can you be so sure of that?! The police said –” Chie cries out, only to be interrupted by Naoto – who seems very prone to doing that often.

“Yes, I know what they said.” Naoto says, looking irritated this time. “Surely you can piece together any reason as to why I would know this information, wouldn’t you?”

Yukiko speaks up, “you broke into the police and found the files regarding this case, which makes no sense, or…”

_Or you’re the one Adachi-san mentioned._

“Or I’m working with the police.” Naoto says secretively, a smile on his face. “You are smart, after all. And I thought Narukami was all the brains, given that he seems to be leading the team… and given that you do not seem to be doing so badly for yourself, after all – you’ve rescued three people now.”

Yu raises their hand and has to fight back the urge to put it on their chest as it tightens up, instead settling it down onto their knee. “I really don’t know what you want.” Yu says, their words struggling through mud and gunk. “We’re just teenagers, and we didn’t rescue three people, we only found them…”

“So, you would rather play an obstinate fool.”

“No, I am playing at a concerned high-schooler wanting to know why someone from – from your work is coming to us about something we don’t know. We only know what the news tells us.”

Naoto takes a step forward, his footstep echoing with their heartbeat. Another step, another slam against the ribcage. They look at his shoes instead of up at his face. “Anything you know,” he says, his voice closer now, “will help the police, and then you can stop playing mock-investigation team and go back to being normal students.”

Yosuke’s brow furrows in annoyance. “And you get to keep investigatin’? No thanks! We’ve already seen the police be useless, ‘sides. It’s as Yu-kun says, we don’t know shit. Why would we tell you even if we did, huh?”

As though a lightbulb lights above his head, Kanji hits his fist on the table with a different look of recognition. “Wait. Wait! I recognise you, now!” he blurts out, “you’re that kid detective! The Detective Prince! Holy shit, you’re in Inaba!”

“Yes, I am in Inaba.” Naoto says, obviously amused. “And I suppose you now know why I can do what you cannot. Narukami-san, you must know something. You are a good person, aren’t you? Why else would you help people you don’t know find their classmate? You only just started high-school here some months ago, and still you helped them. Help us as well.”

Yu looks at him for a while, takes in his patient expression. They stare and stare, even as the silence drags on and the humming of the people around them is not enough to calm their heartbeat.

This boy is going to have a palace. But why? This boy wants to know, but how can they reveal?

“Shirogane-san,” Yu says slowly while they stand up and bow before him, startling him, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I know I could, I know I should, but nothing I have to say will help you. You are right, we did save these people. I helped them when I should not have. I want to help you, but there is nothing I can say that will aid the investigation.”

They fold their hands in front of themself, on their knees. When they rise to look into Naoto’s eyes, he seems surprised – even further – that they aren’t as tall as he expects. “I hope you’re able to find something from your investigation that can help you further.”

“… so you really don’t want to say anything.” Naoto says after a bit of deliberation, “but, can you at least answer me one thing? The one thing I know you can answer? Did you see anything out of the ordinary when you went to Tatsumi Textiles, or Amagi inn?”

They play with their bangs. Something pops up at the forefront of their brain, a memory that they hold onto for a reason they don’t know.

“There was a black delivery van in the late afternoon, but I don’t know why it was there. Will you please let us go now?”

Naoto nods. He bids his farewell to everyone then walks away, and their group erupts into a cacophony of noise when he walks away. Yu finds themself staring at him leave, watching his back as he walks further and further away.

**“What is the value of a person?”**

They don’t know. Their last school teaches them that –

**“What is the value of a person?”**

That is the same back that retreats and leaves in the Midnight Channel, disappearing further into the demon realm. They turn back to their friends and focus on the conversation here – with Kanji explaining to the rest who Naoto is and why he is so famous, and Yu realising that they also recognise him from back in the city.

A smart, detective boy who wants to follow in his father’s footsteps.

For some reason, the conversation makes them feel so tired.

_“You all were so drenched in your own world you didn’t even realise I existed.”_

_“You should really pay more attention next time – never know who’s gonna hear you.”_

_“I warned you, didn’t I?”_

They jolt awake from their dream – it is two in the morning when they check the clock. It’s pouring outside something fierce, the droplets of rain serving to soothe their racing heart but their mind still clings onto the dream world. Their hands fly up to their throat, then down to their shirt, and they curl into themself.

The rain muffles their crying but they bury their face into their pillow anyway. They want to call their mom and dad, but they don’t know what time it is where they are – they want to hear their voices again, they want to hear them.

Yu cries themself to a pitch black sleep soon after.


	24. Chapter 22

A world of fog surrounds Yu – a familiar world, so full of fog that they cannot see anything ahead of them. Even extending their arm out makes it impossible to see their hand. They shiver and wrap their arms around themself and take a few steps forward. The floor appears before them with each step – they keep walking, and walking, and walking – they break into a run, their lungs constrict, burn. They sprint, their muscles burn –

They have to keep running. They don’t know why. There is something – someone? – waiting for them at the end – they can’t stop running. Heat rushes up to their face, their fingers sinking into their arm – they shiver and hiss, goosebumps appearing all over as they run. Their hair whips around in the wind – lengthening the further and further they run to the end. Petals fly around behind them while their sleeves grow shorter, stopping around their elbow.

Trousers give way to a schoolgirl’s skirt – they stumble upon their foot as they trip to rip their sandals off so that running is easier. Wavy hair flies around in the air when they get back to sprinting –

“What are you looking for?”the same voice calls out, “what are you hoping to find?”

Yu just keeps running, one arm reaching out towards the figure waiting for them at the end.

“You can see the path now, can’t you?” the voice says. Yu wants to look back, almost, just to see who it is who is talking to them – but they can’t do that. They just have to keep running and keep going.

But why do they have to do that?

The fog around the person waiting for them dissipates, making it easier to see the short, grey hair. The person stands at the other end – and Yu skids then slips, falling over onto their own face mere millimetres before the person at the end. Their hands and knees scrape across the floor, leaving bright red stains as the skin is cleaned off.

“What are you going to do now?” the voice says, sounding closer than they expect it to. A hand lands on their shoulder, forcing their upper body up and they gasp. “You cannot look behind you.” the person at the end slowly begins to turn. “You cannot look behind you.”

Ever so slowly, the person disobeys -

“Yo! Yu! Wake up!” Yosuke calls out and Yu jolts upright, throwing their notebook and pencils all around and stare up into an amused gaze. “So even the star student gets tired, huh?”

“I fell asleep?” they ask, “when did I fall asleep? Oh my god, our last class was King Moron. He’s going to cut off my marks – I can’t lose any marks, I can’t –”

Thwap! A ruler slaps their desk and makes them jolt. “Hey, hey, partner, slow down.” Yosuke says. “King Moron didn’t notice, or if he did the guy didn’t say anything – which doesn’t sound like him, really. You’re good, dude, you didn’t even really miss anything. The guy went on a weird rant about traditionalism versus modernity or something. I don’t know what he was saying.”

“None of that is coming on the exam?”

“None, partner! Don’t worry your small head over it.”

They just say a soft ‘oh’ in response and ignore the comment about their reasonably sized head. “Where are Chie-san and Yukiko-san?”

Yosuke shrugs, “I’uhno. Chie-chan dragged Yukiko-chan away and said they were gonna hang out together… which means you and I have time for each other!” he beams down at Yu and they stare back at him with a blank, blank gaze. “We really haven’t had the time to just hang out, as friends, y’know? With… everything going on. C’mon, let’s hang out!”

They go to a downtown-esque area that Yosuke remarks makes him think of the city often. “It’s like being back home!” they just find it odd to be in an area that really does remind them of their previous city. “I came here a lot during summer break just to see what’s around, y’know? Inaba doesn’t have most of the shops here, and I buy all my games here.”

“What kind of games do you like?” they ask, curious.

Yosuke grins widely. “Strategy games!” they blink. “C’mon, lemme show you around.”

He drags them all around the area, pointing to rather cheap clothing stores and then talking about the history of the place as best he can – they just listen to him attentively, noting that Yosuke is surprisingly good at being a tour guide. He also seems to know a lot about the business side of things, as best as a high school student can at least.

Is he going into business when he gets into uni? They think it fits him well.

The more they walk with him, they more their thoughts wander – what kind of family life does Yosuke have? He seems to be doing pretty well, even if he whines to Chie every time she tries to buy something way too expensive. He isn’t that book smart, but he tries. But what is his life like? What does he like? He likes video games; they know that now.

They need to make an effort into talking to him before something happens in the future that keeps them from doing so. Trying not to be nervous, they do their best to engage in conversation with him and Yosuke just chatters on happily as they do.

“Aren’t you worried about Shirogane-san?” Yu asks when they settle down somewhere to eat and after they call Chisato to let her know where they are. “I think he knows something important –”

“I’uhno, I think the guy was talkin’ out his ass.” Yosuke mumbles, though he does sigh and run a hand through his hair. “Are you asking because Kanji mentioned the fact that he was a kid detective, or something?”

Yu chews on their lower lip for a moment before making a very, very weird face. They don’t really know how to gesture about this. “I recognised him too when Kanji-san brought it up, but… he also kept mentioning that we ‘know’ something, and he said we rescued three people – but Kanji-san confirmed with me that he didn’t say anything about us when he went to the police station.

“I think we should treat Shirogane-san more seriously.”

Yosuke sighs. “Okay, sure. I dunno why you’re taking Kanji’s word at face value… but sure, let’s believe him that he didn’t say anything.” they furrow their brow, trying to figure out why Yosuke seems so suspicious of Kanji. They get swept away by the proceeding conversation, however, and end up not asking him about it.

By the time they separate on the bus, Yu wants to smack themself. Chisato has to pick them up and take them home, with the trip back having her sing some 70s song horrifically out of tune. Yu giggles the entire time.

Their joy dies down a little when they see Nanako on Adachi’s lap as they both watch TV together. Uchida is also here, though this time her jacket is wrapped around her waist and she seems to be looking over some case notes on the small kitchen table. Trying not to give anything away, they simply state their greetings to everyone.

Uchida smiles brightly when she sees them and waves, “hey, Narukami-kun. I hope school’s going well! Finals are coming up real soon, huh?”

“Something like that.” they answer a little uncomfortably, but she doesn’t press the issue. She simply turns back to her work, though she does briefly step out to make a call. Adachi, himself, is mostly busy entertaining Nanako when she goes on her excited rambles about her TV show while also sometimes talking about school.

Like this, Adachi looks almost harmless – like an uncle just coming along to hang out with his niece instead of a cop who keeps running into Yu. They congratulate themself for meeting his gaze and smiling politely at him.

“Hey, kid.” Adachi calls out, “hey, Dojima-chan.”

“Adachi,”

“I’ll call you Chisato-chan when you call me Tohru-kun~”

“And I’ll call you by your name when you call me by my name. We seem to be at an impasse here.”

They sit down on the sofa behind Adachi and Nanako and almost jump out of their skin when Adachi starts talking to them, “y’know, Nanako-chan was talking to me about your school and all the competitions and tournaments it’s been having lately. Didja know she’s gonna take part in a play at your school?”

“Oh,” Yu says, folding their hands on their lap as they do, “yes, actually. She told me – she got the lead role! Isn’t that right, Nana-chan?”

“Yeah!” Nanako declares proudly, “I’m gonna be the princess! But… I kinda wanted to be the prince because that looks cooler.”

“Oh, Nanako-chan, ya can’t be the prince because you’re a girl.” Adachi says playfully, pinching her cheek as he does, “even if you tell them you wanna be the prince, they wouldn’t let you. That’s just how adults are.”

She crosses her arms and huffs, “that’s not fair!”

“Life’s not that fair, kid.” Adachi turns his head and looks up towards Yu. They wish he doesn’t. “You good at maths, Yu-kun?”

“Um, I’m – I’m the top at the school, yes.” they fidget a little. “Why?”

He smiles lazily. “Your school’s gonna throw a math tournament near the end of the year. Why don’t ya sign up? Maybe you’ll win something.”

“I don’t know…”

“You’ll do great, kid. Believe me. Just give it a try – step outta your comfort zone a little. Let Inaba have something to be proud of in the future generation, make your parents think having you come here wasn’t so bad. Don’t you think they’d like that?”

_‘Yes. Yes I do.’ _Their throat dries up. “Okay, it’s – I’ll sign up when I can, at the end of the year.”

“Yeah. Thanks, kid.”

He looks back towards the TV and proceeds to simply play with Nanako and listen to her giggles. Seeing her happy relieves some of their anxiety, though they still can’t help tense when he looks away. Uchida excuses herself when she comes back and takes her leave and Yu watches her back as it disappears out the door.

Adachi stays for another hour then announces his own departure, giving Nanako a big hug and then messing up Yu’s hair.

“You look nicer like this.” is the last thing he tells Yu before he leaves and says his goodbyes.

* * *

When officer Uchida comes back to the place she is temporarily staying at, Naoto is also there waiting for her. She looks surprised to see Naoto awake this late, though she doesn’t have anything to say to her besides a wave and a simple “hello!”

“I think we can get the interview sometime after high-school examinations are done for this semester,” Uchida says happily, “they’ll be done in two? Weeks or something like that. You got yours done early, didn’t you?”

Naoto nods. “Having the reputation I have, it made it quite easy for me.”

“Oh, that’s good, then! I’m going to go to bed, now. You take care, okay? Don’t work too hard, Shirogane-kun. Goodnight!”

Uchida doesn’t have to worry much, however – Naoto ends up falling asleep at the desk she is working at and wakes up to find herself in her bed, probably carried here by Uchida.

The interview sits on her mind.

Is she also going to end up in the TV? Will they come to rescue her? She wants to laugh at her own thoughts.

She is going crazy.


	25. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reference in this chapter. a pop-culture reference.
> 
> Also can I stop updating! so much! Thanks!

Everyone ends up busying themself studying for their finals, which makes sense – but Kanji, at the very least, seems to be making time for him to train alongside Yu. They help him with his studies and he, in turn, follows them into the TV world to go through some of the earlier dungeons and just blitz through them… or well, not blitz, but steadily go through them, at least. They know how well they do; Kanji has to adapt to the combat however.

They try to walk him through it, though they soon realise that he learns better with actively fist fighting the demons than he does with explanation. Showing by acting becomes easier after that. Another thing is that… the two weeks leading up to their finals is an odd one. Kanji doesn’t spend time with the rest of the crew much, mostly because he seemingly wants to make up for his bad marks throughout the years and he can’t study with them when their subjects are harder.

It takes time to get used to Kanji but it grows easier when they decide not to strike up a lot of conversation. He is the kind of guy who rather sit in silence than speak constantly, which is surprising to them given that he talks a lot when he _does talk. _They develop an uneasy camaraderie as they fight together.

Yu checks the Midnight Channel intermittently – after that first run-in with Shadow Naoto on the Channel, nothing else appears. They ask the rest if they see anything, though they all give the same answer: nothing. All they can do, at this point in time, is to simply sit and wait.

“You ever take a break?” Kanji says to them while they are both in a safe room and resting, with Yu cross-legged and him squatting in front of them. “Sorry s’just… ya seem so busy all the time, y’know? Studyin’, socializin’, fightin’, and you’re busy with the Midnight Channel dude? D’ya ever relax, dude?”

Yu frowns, looking down at their legs to think about it. “… no, I don’t think I have.” they admit softly, though somehow loud enough for Kanji to look at them with barely concealed worry. “I was appointed the leader, so I guess I just ended up taking it more seriously than I thought I would.”

“Man, I dunno, maybe oversteppin’ again, but that don’t seem good for you.”

Yu smiles at him, mostly exasperated, “why do you care?” they ask after a long, long pause. “This isn’t saying I don’t appreciate it, but – we’ve just met. Why would you care? We’re not even really friends, or in the same grade. You’re my junior.”

Kanji shifts around a little until he is finally sitting in front of them, cross-legged as well, and he slumps. He looks so small then, even though he basically towers over Yu. He makes some odd motions with his fingers, like he is making a net with his hands, and Yu just waits for him to say something.

“Look, it prob’ly doesn’t lookit, but… I really do care, even if like, people just think I’ma punk or whatever. I used t’cry for people a lot, and they’d call me a huge crybaby wuss.” Kanji shrugs and Yu uncrosses their legs to bring their knees up to their chest so that it can act as a bridge for their chin. “Shit makes me cry easy. Cute cat? I’ll cry. Someone’s sad? I’ll cry for ‘em. Someone I’uhno died? Fuckit, I’ll cry.”

They blink, burying their face further into their knees, and their arms squeeze their legs closer. “You’re very honest with yourself,” Yu says, “but I really haven’t seen you be very… emotional, if that’s okay for me to say.”

Kanji shrugs, thankfully not offended. “S’cause I got better used to how I feel, but I like – okay. First, I thought, if I felt – if I felt like that, I gotta, gotta pretend I don’t. S’not good for a boy to be like that. But… seein’ myself cry in my palace, or whatever the fuck that was, it made me realise – shit, I’m hurtin’ inside. The worst me is the me who can’t cry for free and be ‘imself. I saw my lil’ self cry, and I said that I ain’t a crybaby. Can ya believe that?”

He laughs, though it sounds sad more than anything else. Yu rocks a little, then smiles gently at him. “It’s okay. You’re right, boys should be more open with themselves, and I’m glad you were able to do that for yourself.”

“Yeah… don’t forget t’cry too, Yu-senpai. Even if ya get made fun of for it, ya deserve to let it all out. Makes ya feel better.”

He is oddly kinder than they expect him to be. They head back into the palaces, train for a little bit longer, and then separate so that they can get back to doing what it is that they normally want to do.

When the final exams arrive, the Midnight Channel still doesn’t show anything new. All they get is static, and their dreams are now a repeat of the same one where they keep running towards someone who waits for them – only for them to wake up just before the person turns around. They have a feeling they know who it is who waits for them, dread settling in their belly as they think about it.

Shirogane Naoto doesn’t appear to them either when they meet up at Junes’ cafeteria to study together and get things done and over with, which is something that they are grateful for. They have three days back to back of final exams thanks to the hap-hazardous schedule they have, meaning that everyone has at least two or three exams per day. It is perhaps one of the more agitating aspects of high-school, and they suppose everything will get worse when they are at university.

“Hey, hey, Yu-kun!” Chie’s voice breaks them out of their thoughts and they look up at her face. They are currently waiting for their second exam of the first day, meaning they have a little bit of time to chat with her at least. She seems thoughtful for only a moment before they say, “did you see anything in the Midnight Channel last night?”

They blink, schooling their expression calmly as they say, “no, why do you ask?”

Chie’s face scrunches up, looking almost like a pig, and Yu wonders if she’s okay when she takes so long to answer. “I – I don’t know, I guess when you asked us if we saw anything on the Midnight Channel, I got kinda paranoid? I mean – I mean, not enough that, you know, well, that like, ugh! I don’t know, I just keep expecting something to happen even though, I don’t know if anything will? We have finals! I still studied for them –”

“Chie-san,” Yu interrupts, “you’re rambling.”

“Oh, oh- right, right, sorry. Sorry.”

“You might be a little stressed, and me saying what I did probably just worsened it. Don’t worry about it, okay? If something was going to show up on the Midnight Channel, it would probably be because of the news, right? I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m sorry.”

Chie looks like she wants to say something else to Yu, her thumbs rubbing against each other while she thinks. “Hey, Yu-kun?” she says softly, “everything’ll be fine, right? Even after everything’s done and gone?”

They swallow the lump in their throat, “I think so, Chie-san. I think everything will work out in the end. I think the exams are going to start soon, let’s try not to get into trouble with the teachers.”

* * *

“IT’S OVER.” Yosuke yells out when the three days come to an end, Chie smacking him after she yells in agreement with him and Yosuke glares at her.

Yukiko smiles at the two of them then looks over to Yu who is mostly busy staring off into space. They want to go to sleep. “Yu-kun, how did your exams go?”

“Knowing him, he probably aced it.” Yosuke says, yawning while he does.

Chie stretches. “I failed, for sure!” she says happily and Yukiko suddenly looks just as tired as Yu does. They nod to one another in solidarity.

“I passed mine, I’m sure.”

“And,” Yu says, “I think I did well too.”

“Look at how humble you are! Dude, brag a little. Be proud, or somethin’.”

Yu rolls their eyes. “I’m going to go and look for Kanji-san, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, let me come with you.” Yukiko says and she falls in line with Yu as they bid their goodbyes. Yosuke has a weird look on his face as they walk away and Yu decides not to say anything about it, and instead let Yukiko lead the way. “You look tired, Yu-kun. Are you sure you don’t wanna just go home and talk to Kanji-kun later?”

Yu shakes their head. “I rather find him right now, if that’s fine. I want to see how he’s doing.”

Yukiko hums and swings her bag, her movements slow and expression thoughtful. “We’re going to have a camping trip next semester,” Yukiko says. They hum in acknowledgement. “It’s mandatory for us juniors and seniors, so you’re going to have to come with.”

“Ah.”

“The freshmen can step out if they want, so, lucky for them I guess.” she smiles at Yu and they give her one in turn. “I think it’ll be nice. Though the boys and girls get separated, so.”

They falter for a moment, “how do you go to the washroom? Are there any…”

“I guess you do it out in nature?” she puts her index on her bottom lip for a second, before pointing at Yu, “wait, no! There are bathrooms near where we’re going, so we should be okay, though we’ll be camping outside still anyway. But I think the portable toilets are still dirtier than doing it out in the wild… Oh! But there’s a nice lake you can go swimming at!”

Yu’s mind rushes for a second. “I think I’d prefer to swim in the separated pools instead of out in the lake.”

“Aw, but it’d be really fun to see you swim.”

“I’d… I’d really prefer not to.”

Yukiko nods her head. “Well, okay. Maybe when you get there, you’ll change your mind when you see how nice and cool the lakes are!”

They somehow doubt it.

* * *

School ends earlier because of the examinations and Chisato picks both them and Nanako up from school. They take a seat in the back to sit with her, ruffling their cousin’s hair the moment they get the chance.

“Stop thaaaat! Cousin Yu’s mean! Mamaaaaaaa!” Nanako calls out, but her voice is playful and she’s giggling the entire time. She’s changed drastically since they first meet, and Yu can’t help but think that she is a very open, sweet little girl. Chisato’s done a wonderful job as a single mother thus far. Yu gives Nanako a playful one-armed hug.

They talk about their school briefly and Nanako bounces excitedly when Yu mentions their short break. She kicks her legs while Chisato hums and taps her fingers on the wheel, the radio playing some old songs that Yu doesn’t recognise.

“Has cousin been able to make tonsa friends?” Nanako asks while smiling up at Yu. For a moment they pause just to think about it – realising how far they’ve come from. They will have a lot to tell their parents, bar the supernatural, and a big, wide smile stretches out on their face. Nanako looks up at them in wonder, not having seen Yu grin this widely before.

Their gaze softens and they nod at Nanako, “yes, I have. You’re one of them, and I have four others at school.”

“But I’m the bestest friend, right?”

“Of course, Nana-chan. You’re the bestest friend one could ask for.”

“Yes!”

Chisato laughs good heartedly. “We’re here,” she calls out and stops Yu when Nanako runs up ahead, a gentle expression on her face, “thank you, Yu-chan. You’re a wonderful kid.”

They rub the side of their neck and watch as Chisato walks up to the door to unlock it and they limply follow after. They help Chisato out with the kitchen after they change and Nanako is currently upstairs in her room, probably playing or doing something else. They watch the news while they sit downstairs, hands forming a bridge beneath their chin.

A familiar splash of blue appears on the screen and their eyes widen.

The reporter on screen is a ponytailed brunette who is bizarrely, overly cheerful with a pink, flower hairpin in her hair. The woman beams up at Naoto.

_“You’ve made quite the name for yourself, Kid Detective!” _she says, far more respectful than the ones towards Kanji and Yukiko, _“now, what could be bringing you to our sleepy little Inaba? After people saw you, everyone’s been speculating that you’re here because of the latest kidnappings!”_

Naoto nods his head, looking stern, professional, and… kinda cool in a way that makes butterflies flutter in their stomach. They hug a couch cushion to their chest, cross their legs, and watch the screen intently.

_“Yes, I was brought in to help with the latest case. It’s a case that’s even flummoxed me, to be unfortunately honest with you. I am unable to disclose information as they are all classified, but know that this perpetrator is a highly intelligent one. Keep your eyes out and always be with someone, do not go anywhere alone.”_

The reporter lets out a soft ‘wow’. _“To even stump the great Kid Detective… Inaba must really have quite the case on its hands!”_

Naoto gives a small, amused smile – for a moment, it looks almost mocking. _“Yes, it’s quite the case. But be rest assured, everything will be handled and you do not need to fear.” _

_“You have seen the speculations have you not? You coming here and being spotted has made quite the fuss online!”_

_“So I’ve seen.”_

_“Do you have any comments on the situation?”_

_“I simply did not want any rumours to spread from my being here, especially not one badmouthing this case. My hope is to keep this from escalating, and as long as there are no more murders, then we shall hopefully be safe.”_

The interview goes on like that for a while, the reporter doing a very good job even with how… overly bubbly she seems. Yu tunes the interview out after a while, shifting a little just to hand the remote over to Nanako who wants to watch some cartoons. Chisato sits on the couch and reads a book while the TV blares, Yu drifting upstairs after a while just to lay down.

Yosuke calls them the moment they get upstairs, because of course he does. They answer him, bring their phone up, and his voice immediately yells out, _“did you see the news!? Him? He’s the one who’s gonna appear on the Midnight Channel!?”_

“I suppose so.” they acknowledge, “but we can’t be sure. It’s not going to rain tonight, right?”

_“No, just a little before and that’s just like, a drizzle or something. Next rain’s in a few days. Want me to call up the rest and ask ‘em to meet up?”_

“Sure,” they say a little aimlessly, their voice growing a little too soft, and they clear their throat, “I’ll call Kanji-san and let him know.”

_“A’right. See you later then, partner.”_

They wait until midnight. As Yosuke says, there is no rain – but they don’t need it. They stare at the TV, sit in front of it, and wait.

_Tick, tick, tick._

The TV hums with life and Naoto is there again – in the same outfit, in the same pose, though wind blows his hair and shirt and he smiles ruefully at nothing in particular. He looks young like this, a teenager in a world he shouldn’t be in. He looks towards the TV.

**“Who determines my worth? I do, or everyone else?” **he asks, **“I mold myself to the rest of the world, because the rest of the world wants me to be a certain way. And if I am not, what will become of me? Ruin. Ruin will come to me, and I will be disgraced. My mother gave me this name, and my father carries out my lies. He thinks it best for me.**

**“What is the best for me? I still can’t tell.” **He looks away and Yu sits up a little bit more, leans forward on their hands. **“Why does everyone else know better than I do? What do I want? What do I want. My mother worked hard, but she was never more than what she was. My father was more than what she was. Who determines worth?”**

He rubs his face, then leans his head back and _laughs. _**“I don’t have to think. I’ll just keep this lie up, until it finally kills me. That’s all it’ll ever be for me. That’s all it’ll ever be. Who determines _worth._”**

It clicks off into a deafening silence and Yu looks away.

Against their better judgement, they dress up and sneak out – there is an unused bicycle at the Dojima house, probably belonging to Ryoutarou prior to his death as Chisato has her own, and they ride it all the way to the cramped business district. They only have a flashlight to light their way around and coming here in the darkness feels surreal.

The gas station isn’t open – why should it be? And still the gas station attendee stands next to one of the gas pumps, hands in their pocket and their head tilting back. They can almost see the gas station attendant’s face.

Yu approaches them and the gas station attendant immediately turns to face them, one hand coming up to wave.

“Students shouldn’t be out this late at night,” the attendant says, “people like you shouldn’t be out this late at night.” Yu swallows. “You know what I mean, right? You shouldn’t be out here so late at night. Inaba isn’t as safe as it used to be. But… you watch the Midnight Channel, don’t you?” wind picks up and Yu stares at the attendant stubbornly. “I can’t help you.”

“But you know something.” Yu says and the attendant chuckles. “But you know something. Why can’t you help me? Why can’t _anyone _help me?”

The attendant shrugs their shoulders, then laughs again. “You didn’t take my offer; why should I help you? But I still want to see what you do. I still want to hear what you say. Don’t worry, though. It’s never too late to take an offer… but now is not the time.

“Go home, Narukami Yu. May you open your eyes, and hopefully you won’t follow whims next time. Will you?

“Go home.”


	26. Chapter 24

Uchida is in their home tonight, during a time they don’t expect. She seems to be stressed over something, talking candidly to Chisato about something. They take a small step closer and overhear a very important piece of information –

“Shirogane-kun went missing. He went to check something outside our place, and then he didn’t come back home. I don’t know what happened.”

Chisato frowns in worry, “that poor boy, I hope he’s safe.”

“Me too, Chisato. We’ll be going on search, but I don’t know if this information is going out into the public – it more than likely won’t because no one knows where Shirogane-kun lives and he doesn’t go to school here yet, and it isn’t as if he’s on the actual police force…”

The two women chatter on about something differently after than, Uchida herself changing the topic – more than likely to keep Chisato from being uncomfortable.

Yu makes sure to mention that information to the crew a day before their meeting and that leads everyone to looking at each other expectantly. Yu definitely knows what they’re going to do soon.

* * *

Junes is as crowded as ever when they come here, early once again. The cooler air means that they can wear baggier clothes, which means they leave their binder behind at home because lately they’ve been getting more tired with it on – they more than likely are putting it on too tight, but a part of them can’t bring themself to care.

The sweater they’re wearing is their dad’s – it’s big on them as ever, but it also does a good job of making them seem even more flat chested than they already are. They wear baggy pants and wait, quietly, at the table that they are supposed to sit at and discuss everything.

They can’t stop thinking about the Shadow Naoto on the TV –

Whatever his problems are, they are deep-seated and definitely from something that spans him being even younger than he is right now. They bet, at most, that he is only a year younger than Yu – and they don’t know why. Still, meeting him that one time makes them feel like a child and Yu rubs at their eyes.

They look up –

And immediately scramble up and away from the table they are sitting at, standing up and hurriedly walking behind one of the fake trees that scatter around Junes nonsensically.

Adachi is here – why is he here? They try to calm their breathing for a second before they peek over from behind the tree. There is another officer with him, both of them are holding coffee cups, and they seem to be talking amicably among each other about something. Yu takes in a stuttering breath, watching them for a little from behind the tree… though they know they can’t stand behind there forever.

Instead of risking the fact that they look suspicious, they separate from the tree and begin to walk around with the crowd – they step behind groups of people while trying to keep an eye on Adachi and his friend. They don’t want to eavesdrop; god knows that if they try he will know –

How? They don’t know, but he will. He’ll figure it out. Minutes pass – they come here too early, they can’t keep doing that. Adachi seems to come here often – maybe with someone else, maybe it’s part of his schedule. They don’t know.

In, out, they weave through groups of people. Their hands shake.

Why are they so scared…? Probably because… because if Adachi catches them talking about the case, they may get in trouble with Chisato. They don’t want her to get worried – she deserves better than to fret over someone like Yu. Their stomach clenches and their fingers curl into fists.

Minutes pass until Adachi and his friend finally leave. They nearly crumple to their knees and cover their face – that is until a hand pokes them from behind and they whip around in a frenzy, eyes wide and scared.

Kanji yelps and raises his hands up, “whoa, whoa, sorry. You okay?”

They almost cry when they see him. “Yes, yes, I’m okay, sorry, sorry. Stress? Yes, I’m stressed.” they ramble on and Kanji stares at them weirdly, which makes their sweat build up even further and their mouth just runs on, “do you want to sit down? Let’s wait for everyone else, I was here a while, and it’s nice not being lonely, while I wait. There are a lot of people here.”

“Senpai, are you okay?”

“Yes! I’m fine! Let’s sit down!”

Kanji is awkward at first, though the tension melts away when Yu mentions magical girl anime and they both start going on and on about the magical girl genre. Kanji does stop to correct himself every time he wants to be excited, so Yu makes up for it by being more obvious with their own excitement – they aren’t a boy, never will be one, but if pretending like this helps him then…

Then they hope he never finds out they are an x-gender.

Yukiko arrives next and she is pretty tired but fine otherwise, chatting easily with Kanji as she sits down. Those two seem to be fast-track on becoming friends, mostly because Yukiko seems extremely accepting of Kanji’s interests.

“We actually met up a few times when everyone else was busy,” Yukiko says, “I confessed something to Kanji-kun to help him feel better and trust me, and so it goes.”

“Yeah, kinda feel bad ya hadda say somethin’ so personal t’me, though. Sorry senpai.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” Yukiko smiles at him and then over at Yu, her head tilting to the side, “did you watch the Midnight Channel last night?”

Yes, they did.

For them, it is just a repeat of the same thing they see that night. Yosuke calls them again after the Midnight Channel is done to yell – or, well, stage-whisper at Yu about his thoughts. Yukiko doesn’t say much else besides that on the topic, though Kanji admits that he doesn’t expect the Midnight Channel to actually be real.

“I mean, like, s’just a random channel ya watch at night. I thought only weirdos and shit watched it, and not that it was, like, an actual, y’know… thing.”

“It took me by surprise too. Yu-kun was actually the one to…”

Kanji bursts into laughter and starts wheezing when Yukiko recounts the Chie first tells her, and Yu is busy burying their face in their hands while wanting to die. That is the scene Chie and Yosuke arrive to, with Kanji laughing so hard he’s crying and Yu looking like they’re trying to be swallowed up by the floor.

Yukiko takes a bite of her tofu and says, “wow, this is really good.” and proceeds to eat while Yu suffers and Kanji wheezes.

“So, what’s the plan?” Yosuke asks while he slides up next to Yu and they try not to flinch when he pats their shoulder. They do daintily brush his hand off when it lingers and Yosuke thankfully doesn’t seem to notice.

Everyone looks at Yu and they twiddle their thumbs together.

“We can’t trust the weather report,” they say carefully, “if we want to figure out and do our own internet sleuthing,” they glance over their shoulder, surveying around quickly before continuing, “we’re going to have to do it really, really quickly. The pipe that’s leaking outside and into my house, I need help fixing it. Maybe we can’t take any breaks? We can’t take any breaks. Maybe we should do it all in one go?”

Chie sits up. “Wait, but – but won’t that be hard? We can’t just do it in one go! That sounds like an awful idea!”

“We’re good enough at it,” Yu says, “we practiced. We have to do it all in one go. I think that’s the best bet. If we can’t do it in one try, we have to do it in two. I’ll see you guys tomorrow then, if that’s okay. Tomorrow seems like the best bet. Let’s try.”

* * *

Teddie greets them happily when they fall into the Shadow World, beaming up at Yu and twitching his ears until they pet his head and ruffle his ‘hair’.

“Hiya, sensei!” he waves at Yu after being pet, then greets everyone else enthusiastically. “You guys’re here for the newest palace, huh? This one’s weird, kinda…”

Yosuke furrows his brow as he steps up, arms crossed in front of him, “whaddaya mean by weird?”

“Well, I mean, all the other palaces were above ground!” Teddie says, paws flying up, “this one’s _underground_! That’s gonna make it a little hard to track you guys, but it’ll be fine as long as there’s no like magical interferences or something.”

“Can you lead us there?” Yukiko asks, and Teddie bounces happily before nodding.

The walk isn’t filled with idle chatter this time, however, as Kanji asks a question that no one else wants to, “so, this world’s like – coming into our world, right? What the hell’s that mean?”

“If I’m to guess,” Yu says, “something is happening every time someone is thrown into the TV world, but I don’t understand what or why. Every time people come back, they’re in the hospital for a while but they come back eventually – save for Konishi-san, who actually _lost_.”

“Maaaaaybe it’s just ‘cause people are being thrown in?” Chie says, “I mean, think ‘bout it. If people are being thrown in, and we keep going in and out… do you think someone’s trying to like, get the demon world in here?”

“But how could they know that this would happen?” Yosuke asks, “like, what, is there a manual on the demon world or something? How did they even figure out they can shove people in here?”

This time, Teddie is the one who speaks up and says something none of them expect, “actually, some of the older demons might know something. Some of the older demons here have seen a lot… but it’s hard to find them, they’re lost far deep into the demon world in a place I don’t wanna go to because it’s scary. You guys shouldn’t go either! Your personas wouldn’t last a second there!”

They don’t doubt him.

Arriving at Naoto’s palace shows that it looks like some sort of military type bunker, a fact that surprises them. They approach the large door that leads down into the bunker, look behind them, and everyone just collectively shrugs all at the same time. “Let’s go.” Yu says, and the group trail in behind them.

“Good luck!” Teddie yells.

They take one step into the dark hallway… and lights flicker on, the shine so bright it burns their eyes and they flinch. Each step down further into the bunker causes more and more light to turn on into a blinding white. It only takes them putting a step forward that the light finally dims down enough to be bearable, and they stop.

Despite this being an underground bunker, the area they step into is a _house, _more specifically a room; it looks like an in-home office_. _There are blank photos all over and a TV embedded into the wall is playing nothing but static.

It is horrifically cold in the office.

The door leading out is wide open and barely hanging onto its hinges, showing hallways that lead out to even more open doors. Stern, serious looking demons stalk the halls.

Everyone looks at each other.

“This… is not what I expected.” Yosuke says, “what’s going on with this kid…?”

“Well, we won’t figure shit out if we’re just standin’ here. Where to, boss?” Kanji shoves his hands into his jean pockets and stares at Yu, his face looking as angry as ever.

Teddie pipes up, _“good news guys! I can see all of you PERFECTLY – there is no interference on Teddie’s end! But… all the rooms here look the same. I- I don’t see you guys having any trouble here, but watch out anyway, okay? I’ll guide you guys like always.”_

He keeps to his promise, as he always does.

When they get into their first fight, Yu is proud to admit that they all came prepared this time. The first demon they run into isn’t that hard to take down and the next one is more willing to listen to negotiation than to just fight them outright. They all go back and forth between fighting and negotiating when they can, mostly because Yu wants them to save their strengths for when they go down further into the hallway.

One thing that Teddie is quick to note is that, _“there’s no stairs at the end of the hallway. You gotta find it in one of the rooms, aaaand I can’t tell you which one because I see the entire place as stairs. It’s weird!” _

It is on the fourth room that they explore that something happens –

_“Why couldn’t you just not say anything!? You humiliated me!” _a male voice yells, distressed and agitated at the same time, and the sound of pacing resounds throughout the room.

_“I humiliated you?” _a female voice responds indignantly, _“I was trying to help. You were going NOWHERE with the case, none of you were! Why can’t you accept that?”_

_“We didn’t ASK FOR YOUR HELP!”_

**“My father, however, needed it.”**

Shadow Naoto is standing right there, but it doesn’t seem to want to fight them… and given that none of them are Naoto, they also think it best they don’t say anything. The shadow seems content to just stand there, staring off into the distance while the voices repeat the same conversation over and over again, like a broken record.

It turns to face them, its gaze blank.

**“Do you believe a woman should help a man openly, or that she does not deserve the ridicule? Do you think it better she be ridiculed to be the exception, or that it is better she maintains her safety in silence?”**

It doesn’t wait for an answer. It turns on its heel, instead, and runs down the stairs. The crew have no choice but to follow him further down into the bunker –

This one seems to be emulating a sort of… living room when they finish rushing down the stairs. Family photos line the walls this time, though the mother in all of them has a big, red, “X” on her face. A destroyed sofa sits in the middle of the living room, a book tossed hap hazardously on the floor and an anime DVD case sits shattered nearby.

A TV sits and plays a low-quality video of a woman and a man arguing, both of them looking extremely tired of it all. It flickers constantly, as though it can’t hold onto this video.

Each room they go into is the same – though the demons are tougher here as they expect. There is significantly more challenge here as they take the demons on, with more of them unwilling to negotiate than anything else –

Some of them look annoyed, irritated. Some look exhausted. All of them are relentless.

Kanji struggles to keep up with the rest, though his desire to protect seems to fight against his uncertainty and wins more often as well – he will willingly throw himself into an otherwise harsh blow just to have Take-Mikazuchi take the brunt of it.

They offer him a life stone at some point and Kanji takes it just to stare.

“It’s restorative.” Yu says.

He eventually concedes and breaks it into his palm when Yu reassures him that he doesn’t have to eat the stone. He looks marginally better after the fact.

This hallway is longer than the previous floor, which means they run into enemies far more often. Having to manoeuvre in these cramped spaces is proving to be difficult as well, considering that Yu has to constantly change positions to be of any use with their demons and persona.

It is not great.

When they eventually find the room with the stairs leading down they also find Shadow Naoto simply standing there while staring at the ceiling. The TV screen flickers to life and the video quality this time is perfect, pristine, despite being an old TV set.

_“You can’t… you can’t just keep doing that.”_

_“Helping? I can’t keep helping? Can a wife not help her husband with his work… when they both have the same work?!”_

_“You know we don’t have the same work! You know you get the easier ones!”_

_“And that’s why I can help you! My cases are easy! Why can’t you just let go of your –”_

_“Stop asking me to! Just listen to me! Just listen to me for once!”_

**“This happened often,” **Shadow Naoto says, **“my mother would want to showcase her skills. My father would not. Not publicly. Every time they argued, I would be there. I’d hide behind the sofa. They would never stop. They’d just keep going.**

**“It would be scary to stop hiding.”**

The next floor is… plain, in Yu’s opinion. This is supposed to be a representation of Naoto’s parent’s room, but the right side of the bed is covered in a deep, dark red and a destroyed laptop lays upon that crimson stain. The left has paper and petals all over. A picture of a wedding sits next to the bed, with the bride’s face covered in black tape and a name written over and over again to the point of incomprehensibility.

There is nothing they can do to check what the name is, but they can most definitely tell that Naoto gets his eyes from his father.

Fighting on this floor of the dungeon is even harder than before – the demons here are frenzied, panicking and angry – they throw their all into fighting and attacking Yu and their team and they can tell, immediately, that their call for negotiations earlier is a good one even if not by much. The blows they suffer are harsh, relentless, and _angered, _scared. Screams constantly escape the demons, as though they can no longer hold back.

Negotiation is barely an option.

It is almost a relief when they find the way down, but it doesn’t feel like it when voices immediately echo all around them. This time, they can most definitely see silhouettes sitting on the bed; the woman has her fingers rubbing her temple while the man is sitting far away from her, looking ashamed.

_“I’m – I’m sorry for yelling at you, I didn’t –”_

_“You didn’t mean to? How many times have we argued over this? I’m tired, I’m tired and I just want us to stop yelling, stop fighting. Why can’t you ever stay calm? Where is my cool and collected husband from work?”_

_“I…”_

_“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it. From now on, I’m going to stop arguing with you and I’m going to make sure you have nothing to get angry about. If you won’t put the work in, I will.”_

_“… I’m sorry, I really am.”_

_“Okay. Just. Okay.”_

_“Thank you for—”_

_“This isn’t for you. This is for Naoto.”_

Shadow Naoto stands there, quiet. The conversation repeats and loops, getting faster and faster each time until only the phrase ‘this is for Naoto’ can be heard. The Shadow doesn’t seem to be saying anything, simply standing there and staring at where the silhouettes of Naoto’s parents sit.

**“I’ll be waiting for you, down there.” **it says. **“I’ll be waiting for you. You’re hurt, aren’t you? It must be scary to be hurt. I know how it feels, but maybe not physically. But – how did my mother feel when she was murdered?” **Yu’s throat dries up. **“She took a case. It was supposed to be an easy one, but do you know what happened? No, but you will soon.”**

Shadow Naoto turns around to face them yet it only looks at Yu. **“I want to say something to you. Do you know what I want to say? I don’t, because I will not be the one to say it. The only one who can fix me, is me.”**

It runs down the stairs and the butterfly, the ever-present butterfly, floats gently down from its hiding spot to fly circles around the entryway to the stairs.

“Okay, let’s not go down, _yet_.” Yosuke interjects the second Shadow Naoto is out of sight and they all huddle around each other, the voices in this room thankfully going silent the moment the shadow is gone. “Does anyone have any clue what’s happening in this palace? It feels… straightforward? I guess?”

Yukiko hums. “You’re right; but haven’t all of the palaces been straightforward? I was able to see my own while my Shadow dragged me away, but even then it seemed pretty obvious where to go.”

Chie crosses her arms and scrunches her face. “I think I get what Yosuke-kun’s tryin’ to get at. Basically, this palace just feels smaller than all the other ones – but it feels so restrictive, too. Have you guys noticed that? It’s always cold, and it’s getting colder.”

“S’cause Naoto-kun’s feeling disconnected from the shit’s that happenin’ in his brain,” Kanji says and everyone looks at him oddly, “what? Can’t ya guys tell?”

Yu shakes their head. “Could you elaborate what you mean?”

“Okay, so, I’ma try my best to explain what I’m thinkin’ ‘cause this is kinda hard to like, for me to figure out. All the rooms have his parents arguin’ and shit, right? And they’re all small, right? But there’s like, voices on loop?”

“… Naoto-san is stuck in a loop of his own making,” Yu concludes and Kanji grins at them, “I see what you mean.”

“Yeah! Yu-senpai gets it!” Kanji says and raises his fist up. Yu, of course, fist bumps him and then gives him a high-five. They don’t know why. “I think everythin’s small ‘cause’a the way Naoto-kun thinks. That’s what I’m guessin’.”

Yosuke stares at Kanji for a while, almost through him, and the latter shifts a little uncomfortably. “That actually makes sense,” Yosuke says, “you look as stupid as Chie-chan, but man, you’re way smarter than her.”

“Hey!” Chie cries out. Yukiko giggles and Chie blushes lightly at the sound.

“So, do you think the fight’s gonna be hard?”

Yu nods, “I do. I think we’re going to have to be on our guard if Naoto-san rejects his Shadow, because if we aren’t – we might die down here. Whatever Naoto-san has been feeding his own brain, it definitely isn’t good for him.”

* * *

The room downstairs can only be one other thing as they descend:

Shirogane Naoto’s bedroom.

However, the décor is shocking. Light pink walls greet them – shelves lined with tons and tons of shounen manga, violent shlock movies, and other books relating to detectives and law sit on his bookcase. A worn, light-yellow teddy bear in a pink tutu sits on a light blue pillow, upon a white bed with dark blue blankets. Trophies and an open laptop with the picture of Naoto’s mom as its background sit on a desk next to the bookcase.

The room is also absurdly big in a way the other rooms are not, giving everyone a ton of space to move and fight.

In the middle of the room is the very same Detective Prince that they are looking for – dressed in his usual outfit while his Shadow stands impassively in front of him.

Taking a step into the bedroom makes it explode into a cacophony of voices – all of Naoto’s parents arguing over and over, growing louder and louder that everyone has to cover their ears to not go deaf. Already Yu can feel their ears ringing, their knees buckling a little from the sheer force of the voices.

Until –

_“Daddy? Why’re you always so mad at mommy?” _a young voice says, high-pitched and curious – sounding to be around Nanako’s age.

_“Oh, Naoto… it’s… it’s not mommy’s fault, okay, sweetheart?” _

_“Then why does daddy get mad?”_

_“Daddy gets mad at mommy because she keeps trying to help when he doesn’t want her to, because if she helps him then everyone that daddy works with will bully him because a girl had to fix his own problems like he’s a little boy and not a man. Your mommy just really wants to be involved because we have a hard time being together.”_

_“But… ummm…”_

_“Hey, don’t be sad. When mommy comes back home, we’ll go to that restaurant you like – how about…”_

_RINNNGGGGG, RINNNGGGG._

_“Oh, give me a moment, okay Naoto?” Click. “Shirogane speak- yes. Takashi-san? What’s wron- s- she’s dead? My… my wife is… my wife is dead?”_

_“Daddy? Daddy, what’s wrong? What do you mean mommy is dead?”_

_“No, no, Naoto – no, no, no, sweetheart, my sweet little girl, no no, you shouldn’t be hearing this. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry…”_

_Little girl?_

**“The case my mother was given was supposed to be easy. But, she was smart. She found a connection to another case. She was going to arrest the criminal. One of her taskforce gave her away, though. He worked on the other case – and the killer got to him to tie up some loose ends. He murdered the snitch, and my mom as well.**

**“My mother died that day,” **Shadow Naoto says, **“on the day that my father taught me that a hard lesson in life, my mother was murdered. He took her case notes that she was hiding when clearing her items out, and solved the case. Every time he tried to credit it to her, they talked over him.”**

“Stop.” Naoto begs, “stop. Stop! Stop…”

**“Ever since then, I wanted to take my mother’s place and be a great detective because I knew the truth. But every time I told that my father’s friends I wanted to be a detective, they would think I was joking. My father would laugh as well. No one would believe me when I said I understood the cases.”**

“Don’t tell them, don’t tell them, DON’T TELL THEM –”

**“I was told a girl like me should just get married instead when I grow up, and have a good husband and avoid jobs like this so that I won’t die. Women are more likely to get killed, after all, they’re weaker.”**

“Please… why won’t you listen to me?”

**“When my father realised how smart I was, he panicked. A boy is better suited for being a detective. Girls should be playing with dolls. Girls should be braiding their hair. Girls should get married.”**

“I’ve done so well to hide this, why are you giving me away now? WHY?”

**“Do you like lying? I’m tired of it. We keep hiding it. Why? What are you going to do when someone finds out you’ve been pretending? Do you know what they’ll do to you?”**

“Please… I don’t need to hear it; I know what will happen –”

**“You’ll lose your job. You’ll lose your reputation. Everyone will hate you. You’ll hate yourself. You’ll die, just like your mother did, because it’s easier for women to die – ignore the fact that so many male police officers die every day. You know the statistics.”**

“My father thought—”

**“Daddy thought it was better to pretend you were a boy and play along with it. And you did too, because you were scared. Everyone was horrible, weren’t they?”**

Naoto’s hands fly up towards his (her?) ears, nails digging into flesh and borderline ripping it apart. “THIS IS FOR THE BETTER!” Naoto screams. “I know I’m better than them, but do they? They don’t, they won’t. Because – because I’m a girl, and they – I don’t want to go through that again. I don’t want to hear it again! I don’t want to hear the jokes! The jabs! Everyone will keep thinking I’m useless! I’m tired! This is for the better, I just need to –”

**“What about officer Uchida?”**

“… ah…”

**“Are you going to tell her she’s better off—”**

“STOP TALKING! Go away! GO AWAY! I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU ANYMORE!”

In the background, Yosuke curses when Naoto curls away from the Shadow. Shadow Naoto turns towards them, gaze blank and eyes glazed over. They all ready up as the Shadow begins to bubble and take on its new form, its arms spreading out and eyes closing.

**“… I am the Shadow, the true self. Look upon me, and know why I suffer.”**

A large, insect like creature appears before them – its wings flap rapidly while its body is oozing sticky substances all over, and in a way it looks almost depressed to fight.

It raises its rapier up, perpendicular to the sky… and slashes the blade down with a lethargic cry of, **“Judgement.” **and a horrific pressure balls against their body and slams them against the walls, throwing them around like ragdolls. It feels like their bones are breaking, muscles and tendons tearing apart underneath this harsh attack.

Shadow Naoto floats listlessly in the air, looking like a mosquito waiting for its pray. It raises its sword again… though Kanji is about to respond with a quick lightning spell to knock the rapier out of the bug Shadow’s hand as it flies towards the farthest corner of the room. He manages to buy them some time while the bug goes to retrieve it.

“FffffFFUCK!” Yosuke cries out when he can stand again, arms wrapping around himself, “fuck, that – that hurt. Holy shit!”

_Holy shit _is right. Yosuke manages to remember himself just enough to heal them all before Shadow Naoto is coming back to crush them with the overwhelming pressure… and that sparks Yu into action.

“KANJI!” Yu yells and he snaps up into alert, “with me! Yukiko, you too! Fire, ice, lightning! Fire, ice, lightning!” it manages to click into both their heads what Yu means just in time for them to throw out an ice spell to encase the shadow’s hand and Yukiko responds with a yell of her own as flames spark from her persona.

Water drenches the Shadow’s hand and it stares, bewildered for a moment, until it notices what is happening. Lightning and water is a dangerous combination – but combine it with the metal in its hand? Well, the Shadow is quick to respond and throw the weapon far away, realising that they can’t use it for now.

After that, the fight becomes a shitshow. The only way for the Shadow to be able to do its Judgement ability is to grab its sword, which means that even if they manage to chase it and get to it in time they will still get hurt by the terrific force.

This is a fight of attrition, Yu realises, and they just hope they have enough energy to keep everyone long enough to defeat the Shadow.

Naoto watches them the entire time, her eyes wide when she finally sees what Narukami Yu and his friends are doing in the flesh. Their fight looks painful, but the only thing she can do is just watch with a frantic gaze – her logical part reminds her that she has no way of participating in the fight due to her lacking… whatever it is that the group is using, a fact that comforts her slightly.

Her mind, however, goes into overdrive as it tries to figure out _why _her other self changes shape. The only clue she has to go off of is the fact that her last declaration has Hanamura Yosuke angry and upset. Her other self even calls herself the Shadow…

_“There’s one thing I’ve learned from growing up and it’s that it’s really easy to deny yourself.” Officer Uchida says and Naoto looks at her curiously._

_“What sparks this, officer Uchida?”_

_“I was just… thinking to myself. You mentioned me being older than you some time ago and I guess I couldn’t stop thinking about it. In all my times growing up, what did I learn? Well… I learned how important it is to constantly look at yourself, you know? It’s okay to be someone else in front of others, but you can’t forget who you are.”_

_“Hm… I see, but I don’t understand how this relates to what I said?”_

_“Experience and age teaches you to self-reflect, Shirogane-kun. I’ve been through so many, many awful things, things that no one would believe me if I ever told them. And do you know what all those things taught me? Be true to yourself, even if you aren’t to others, and… try not to become a shadow of yourself.”_

Shadow…

Shadow…!

_SHADOW!_

She rejected herself! That’s it – that’s the missing piece! But… how does she _correct _it? She looks over to the fight and watches – then notices, surprised, that in the scant few minutes she takes to herself that the fight escalates awfully quickly. The team looks haggard, but the Shadow is somehow just as tired. Its wings are flapping slowly now, its body sags, and it seems… to have almost given up.

“Yosuke! You still have some energy left – _defeat it!” _Yu yells out, his voice carrying a sort of desperation that she never hears before in a leader. Magical energies flow around Yosuke as his spirit-thing (oh how smart you are, Naoto) appears and a force of wind knocks the bug flying all the way back to Naoto.

Its body changes from that of a mosquito type creature and warps back into looking like Naoto and it slowly, shakily, raises itself up to look at her.

**“…”**

Silence is the only thing that greets her when she looks at the Shadow, and it seems to be waiting for her to say something.

She takes in a deep breath. Before Yu can even explain to her what she needs to do, she is already talking.

“Hey,” she manages out and the Shadow stares at her, waiting, “you’re… part of me, aren’t you?” she sits up properly, then comes to a full stand. The Shadow lays there on its side still, battered and bruised. “… You’re right, I hated it. I hated knowing that my mom was better than my dad, yet no one believed me – no one believed in her. I… I wanted to be as good as my mom was.

“You’re right. I hated it. I lived a lie my whole life, just like my father did – everyone thought he was the one who solved the case, and then he just eventually gave up on correcting them. I gave up too. I never should have. I should have kept going… my mom deserved to be remembered. She was an amazing woman, an amazing detective. I’ve read all of her notes and they’re – they’re so well written, so well thought out, so well mapped…

“… you’re a part of me, and I was wrong to reject you.” she offers her hand out towards her Shadow and it looks up at her with finally some emotion showing in its face. Yu and his friends are standing around them, looking at each other before back at the Shadow and Naoto.

It grabs onto her hand, its grip strong – but not as strong as hers as she helps it stand up. “Officer Uchida told me… told me something that I should remember, that I should always think about. She’s an amazing woman, too, and perhaps someday I’ll be like her. Competent, strong, and intelligent. Will you help me through this journey?”

The Shadow closes its eyes… and tears escape anyway. It practically is a flood as the Shadow begins crying and throwing its arms around Naoto tightly.

Everyone watches as the Shadow begins to transform into Naoto’s persona – it takes on the shadow of a bug, similar to that of Kamen Rider (oh hey! Yu actually remembers something from Nanako’s favourite show!) and it looks upon them all curiously before its eyes land on Yu.

_“You,” _the persona says, uncharacteristically, and they jolt, _“you are the conduit, are you not?”_

“Y-yes?”

_“… I am Sukuna-Hikona, and Yamato-Takeru wishes to speak with you.”_

Once more it transforms, a blinding white light taking over it, before it transforms into someone else entirely –

A tall, graceful man stands proud before them, wearing some sort of kabuki mask. Dressed like a samurai in pure white cloths and gems upon their armour, he stands before them all like a God coming to grace them with his presence. He taps their sword on the floor, as though to test the ground, before it looks down upon them.

_“Conduit,” _he says, his voice majestic and deep, beautiful, _“I am Yamato-Takeru. It is rare that I come here to speak with humans, especially for ones fated as you. My dearest humans, you are taking on a burden in which no one will explain to you… I will help you, I will speak to you for as long as I am able… I cannot say much, and I cannot stay here long._

_“This world is fracturing, but it cannot – not yet. There is a time in which this world shall fall, and there is naught you all can do of it.” _the collective gasps and confused murmuring is expected, but Yu themself are silent and incapable of saying anything. This world will fall…? _“It is a cruel destiny to be victim of the fates this way… but know, young Conduit, you have a noble duty._

_“You cannot let the demon world break free. No matter what you may think, no matter what others may say, you cannot let the demon world and the human world become as one. Those who are to deal with it… they are not yet born. Whatever the orchestrator may say, do not listen to her honeyed words. She will speak truths, but douse them in temptation._

_“Whatever happens, Conduit, you must not give in to the temptation. You must not give in. This is not yet the age in which the Earth shall die once again.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the [Yamato-Takeru](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/2/2c/Yamato_Takeru_SMTIV.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130906131730) I'm going for, not the persona 4 version.


	27. Chapter 25

Yamato-Takeru doesn’t let them ask any questions. When they try, they almost feel as though the mystical being before them is smiling down sadly at them even with their mask in the way. He taps his sword on the floor several times, looking around at all of them, and says one last thing before he fades away and lets Sukuna-Hikona take over, _“dearest humans… I hope that you are able to forgive us for our follies, and for all that is to follow.”_

The bug-like Sukuna-Hikona returns, fluttering about Naoto before he fades away into her (her? Her) and she stares at them all, looking a bit embarrassed by it all.

“Forgive me for the inconveniences I caused you,” Naoto says while bowing briefly, “but I also must thank you for letting me confirm my suspicions, and for saving me as well. It was not… easy to see myself like that – and I suppose that all of you have gone through the same?”

Yu sinks a little, clear their throat, and speak, “I haven’t.” Naoto raises an eyebrow at that, her arms crossing as she looks into them, “for a reason I don’t know yet, my Persona came to me without me actually facing my demons – and from then on, I’ve been called the conduit by every other persona we’ve met – except for, technically yours, I guess?”

“… I see. Will you tell me what this ‘Conduit’ business pertains to?”

“Only if you tell us what you meant by confirming your suspicions.”

Naoto sighs, as though she hopes that Yu doesn’t ask this, before she stands straight and surveys them all. “… I witnessed you guys enter the TV before, during a time where I was keeping an eye on you and your team, Narukami-san.”

“What?!” Yosuke cries out, “you- you saw us?! And you didn’t tell anybody about it?! Is that why you approached us? And why you kept saying that weird, vague shit? Wait. Is that why you wanted a new meeting spot?”

They stumble a little, “I – I don’t know. I was getting paranoid when we were in the café, and I didn’t know why. I guess it’s because I realised we were being watched?” they curse themself for stuttering at first, hoping that they aren’t caught in their lie, but Naoto thankfully swoops in for the save when she continues the conversation for them.

“It does not matter. What matters is that… this ended up blowing up in my face. I will admit, in my arrogance… in my arrogance, I thought that what you were doing was simply going in and bringing people out. At first, I had assumed you were the ones at fault, but there is one thing I can state immediately: the person who abducted me was none of you, but most certainly an adult man roughly the same height as Kanji-san, perhaps a little taller.

“And… and I didn’t expect for all of you to see my secret in the full.” she looks away, her expression pained. “Yes, it’s true. I was pretending to be a boy for my entire time as the Detective Prince. Even if I do enjoy this sort of fashion, it is better to say I can be described as a ‘tomboy’. I was hoping that, at some point, I would be murdered and remembered a boy, and my killer deemed a maniac while my secret was taken to the grave.”

Yu swallows, wanting to cut in and admit that they too are pretending to be a boy – but not for the same reason as Naoto, who seems to be doing it as some form of escape. They want to desperately, desperately let her know what they are doing, why they are doing it – but they can’t. They _can’t. _Naoto actually sees herself as a girl – a girl struggling against the society she finds herself in, but a girl nonetheless.

But they do not.

“I never expected the Detective Prince to be a girl…” Chie says, dazed, “but knowing you’re a girl… honestly! That makes you waaaaaay cooler, like, maybe it’s just me being like, I’uhno, kinda, like dumb, but… seeing you do so well is like, really inspiring honestly. But… what’re you gonna do now that we know you’re a girl?”

Yukiko rubs her arms, looking clearly tired, “we will keep your secret if you decide to continue having everyone see you as a boy, you know, we won’t just… go on and tell everybody.”

“Much as I think this is way too complex for me to really get,” Yosuke says, oddly diplomatic, “yeah, I agree with Yukiko-chan. We won’t tell. Right, Kanji-kun? You’re being hella quiet.”

Kanji startles a little, looking at everyone before rubbing his nose, “uhh, what we talkin’ ‘bout?”

“Naoto-san’s secret.” Yukiko says.

“Oh, her, uhhh, her secret. Right. Wha’ ‘bout it?”

“If she doesn’t want everyone to know she is a girl…” Yu lingers.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, I can keep quiet, tho’ s’not like anyone actually talks t’me, ya know? Yer secret’s safe with me, and thassa promise!” he jabs his own thumb at himself.

Naoto goes quiet for a moment, looking off into the distance and she taps her foot. Fixing her hat up after some time, she looks at everyone critically before saying, “I will reveal myself as a girl on my own terms, so you do not have to worry. Though, I do ask that you pretend you do not know until I myself make it public. I will, however, tell officer Uchida. I… I think… I think it’s fair she knows, especially when she’s been working so hard…”

She sighs and, for a moment, she stops looking like an adult. For a moment, Yu sees themself in her expression and they look away.

“But, enough about me. Escort me out of here so that we may discuss something that is on my mind. If you will, Narukami-san.”

Getting back to the Velvet Room isn’t difficult, it never is. They take the time on the journey back to explain everything thus far and stand outside of the door to the Velvet Room to finish up before going in. Naoya greets them like nothing is out of the ordinary and Naoto immediately stops to stare at him, as though she doesn’t know what to make of the young man.

He waves at her.

“Hey there, Naoto-chan!”

She narrows her eyes. “You know me?”

“Yup! You were going to come here, after all. I know everyone who is going to come here, eventually, and those who will stay. It’s a little bit odd. Don’t you think?”

“… I see. I will permit you to call me so familiarly, then.”

“Great! Anyway, if you have any questions, ask that guy, not me.”

Her expression contorts into incredulousness when Naoya just goes back to laying down on his armchair and ignoring them all. She looks at Yu, who just shrugs.

When Naoto calls out that they need a place to sit, Igor points behind them and there are entirely new sofas available for them all to sit down. When they all talk about being hurt, Naoya heals them just before they go to sit down. When Kanji murmurs being thirsty, water appears before them on a materializing coffee table.

“I don’t get this place.” Kanji says, and everyone just quietly agrees while they sit down and Pianist-San starts playing a random piece. Belladonna doesn’t sing, though Naoya and her do start dancing together at some point.

Sitting down with proper posture and a stern face, Naoto speaks up and drags all attention onto her, “as I said earlier, I have seen you and your group enter into the TV several times. This is most definitely during the time in which you were trying to save Tatsumi-san—”

“Uhhh, just call me Kanji. Tatsumi-san’s my ma.”

“… as I was saying, it was during the time in which you were trying to save Kanji-san. It was not what I was expecting, but after seeing it again, I knew I could not doubt my eyes. And, before you all worry and plunge yourself into questions, the only other person who knows is officer Uchida.”

Yosuke looks like he wants to say something though he takes one glance at Yu and then shrugs, settling back. Yukiko and Chie both seem to have the same expectation as Yosuke. Kanji is the only one who isn’t looking at Yu expectantly, though it seems more as if he is thinking to himself.

They sigh.

“Could you tell us why it is you only told Uchida-san?”

Naoto rolls her shoulders back, looking even more prim and proper. “To put it simply, when I proposed the idea to her – it seemed as though she believed me. It was our shared belief that having one of us play as bait to do this, however – officer Uchida plans to appear on the news as well. The plan is that I manage to barely escape the kidnapper, let the information ‘leak’ that I was kidnapped, and then she will appear on the news. The blame will be pinned upon her, and then we will see what will happen.”

“And you believe that officer Uchida will believe you if you recount to her what will happen here?” Yu says, “even if I believed you initially, I would have my suspension of disbelief stretched very thin. What makes you think she won’t doubt you?”

She looks at Yu evenly, gaze unwavering when she says, “call it a detective’s intuition. Though I may not know her well, I believe that she will take my word seriously. And, as per officer Uchida’s hope, I would like to request something: please let me join your team.”

Yu twiddles their thumbs together, looks over at the rest, then tries not to slump when they speak up again, “any help we can get, I’ll honestly take. Especially because you’re on the police force, which means that you have to make a deal with me: any information that you get that you think is worthwhile to this case, you have to tell us. We’re investigating this too.”

“A hard offer,” Naoto says, amused, “but an understandable one. Very well, I will take your trade.”

“Wait, you will? You’re not gonna tell officer Uchida about this first before you, I don’t know, make the decision? That seems…”

“Abrupt? Yes, you are correct. However, I do not believe it will serve either of us well to have any disagreements. I have no desire to barter with you, either. What I have seen is far beyond what the normal police can handle and they do not have personas like I do. It is still best we see what becomes of officer Uchida’s ploy, even with my not knowing what will become of her. Perhaps she shall be like the Konishi Saki case that you mentioned.

“Regardless, we have a deal.”

She extends her hand out towards Yu, her expression unfaltering and her gaze certain. It takes them a moment, perhaps a glance around to see if anyone else approves, before they raise a shaky hand in turn.

Their handshake is a lopsided one – hers firm, Yu’s limp.

“Shall we return, then?” Naoto says.

Yu considers giving leadership up to her, but they don’t think Yosuke will approve of that. He is the one who basically announces Yu the leader, and Naoto is new to the team as well – they don’t want to cause any disturbances right away.

Yet they are sure anyone with a brain can tell that Naoto is better at this than they are, it’s just that no one has the heart to say it straight to Yu’s face.

* * *

Exhaustion hits like a freight train when they all step outside of the TV. Teddie doesn’t really get time to react to Naoto given that she walks straight past him, ignores him really, and then peers outside of the TV before she makes her way through. They explain the situation to Teddie, who isn’t offended – he seems more mildly curious than anything else.

Yu is last to leave. They linger behind, briefly, then turn to look at Teddie.

“Do you really think the demon world spilling out isn’t a bad thing?” they ask and he seems to startle into reality.

He looks at Yu, a smile on his face the entire time. “Yeah, I mean – it’d definitely be that way, right? I get to see sensei more often!” he says happily, clapping his paws together as he does, “the only time we ever get to see each other is when someone falls in, which, makes sense. I wouldn’t wanna come here if I wasn’t from here either – and your world looks neat!

“This’ll always be my home, but… I like sensei. Sensei’s my bestest friend, and I wanna help him to the end – but if our worlds become one… it doesn’t sound too bad.”

“… I see, Teddie,” Yu says softly, “I have to go now.”

Teddie bobs his head. “Okay, sensei! Take care!”

Naoto separates from them the moment Yu comes out and after she hands her number over, saying that she has to go back to her and Uchida’s shared home so that they can set their plan in motion. Everyone else departs soon after so that they can go home and relax, sleep the hard journey off. They happen into Chisato while she is shopping at Junes, Nanako in tow, and Yu joins them after bumping into them.

“We should probably go home early tonight, Nana-chan,” Chisato says while ruffling Nanako’s hair, “Yu-kun seems really tired.”

“O-okay, cousin Yu’s more important!”

They go home early despite Yu’s protests, though they start to sing Junes’ theme with Nanako while in the car.

“I love Junes!” she says happily, “when I grow up, I wanna own one!”

“Good luck with that, Nanako-chan,” Yu says, their heart warm, “you’d be the best owner ever.”

“Yeah! I know I will!”

Despite being on the verge of passing out when they get home, the movement of the car only making them even more tired, they still have enough energy to ask Chisato something, “was officer Uchida ever superstitious?”

She stops and looks at them for a moment, a strange shadow overcoming her face and she grabs onto her apron but doesn’t take it off. “Tamaki? Why do you ask?”

Yu presses their thumbs together and swallow the lump in their throat down. “I was just wondering if she ever said anything to you that you didn’t believe at first, but maybe did over time…? I – I ran into someone who, is- is working with her, and they mentioned something to officer Uchida about something superstitious and supernatural and she believed them…”

Chisato stares at them for a while, her movements slowing down while she ties her ribbon.

“Tamaki has told me some things, and I know that everything she tells me is true.” Chisato says carefully, causing Yu to furrow their brow, “but if you want to know, it’s best you ask her yourself. Remember, Tamaki’s a good woman – she’ll listen to you, and she’ll believe you if you give her reason to.”

“O… kay?” they say, but Chisato doesn’t continue on. She finally ties her apron on and then turns around to make something for Nanako, her expression still strange as she turns away. “Then, I’m going to sleep, auntie Chisato.”

“Of course, Yu-chan. Goodnight.”

“… Goodnight.”

Their phone _dings _gently with a message, one from an unknown number – and… Yu stares for a hot minute.

_\- TALKED 2 UCHIDA. PLANS GOING 2B UNDERWAY SOON. KEEP EYE OUT 4 AFTER SKEWL STARTS AGAIN. OK?_

_\- Shirogane-san, is that you?_

_\- YA._

_\- oh._

_\- DONT TELL OTHERS, BUT IM GOING TO B JOINING UR SKEWL SOON. OK? PLAN’LL START AFTER I JOIN U GUYS._

_\- okay._

_\- GN. TTYL. TAKE CARE._

_\- Goodnight._

For a moment they stare, trying to connect this texting style to the well-mannered and proper detective, and find themself halting mentally. A giggle escapes them, unbidden, and they can’t help but smile at their phone, reading the frankly bizarre conversation over again, and they rub at their eyes when fatigue comes rearing its ugly head again.

Whatever that may come, it is better they just sleep it all off for now.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a better day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, hi! I have a question and this is kinda important:
> 
> Should Rise be included in this fic, and if so, how? Her inclusion won't really affect the plot structure and I'll be able to work her in, but the main problem is that I have no desire to have Teddie not be the navigator and Idk what to do with Rise. I genuinely forgot about her and it took me booting up P4G to remember that I should probably include her too.
> 
> Problem is, I have no clue how and if people want her in, please let me know! And give me suggestions! It'll be very useful!


	28. Chapter 26

This is perhaps one of the stupider things they’ve done. Chisato, of course, is a little bit taken aback by the fact that Yu wants to go and visit the police station and she struggles for a moment, looking as though she wants to reject their request. She does eventually acquiesce, request Nanako to sit tight while she takes them somewhere, and Chisato is soon driving them towards the police station.

It isn’t too far away from the market place, but if they go there by bus and on foot it will take much longer than having her drive them there.

“Would you like me to wait here for you?”

“If that’s okay with you, auntie Chisato.” Yu says, “will Nana-chan be fine at home?”

She smiles, “yes, we won’t be taking long so I feel fine with her being at home. I have food in the fridge for her if she gets hungry, she can watch TV, and she’s a very patient little girl. Don’t you worry, okay, Yu-chan?”

They take her words to heart.

The station looms over them as they walk up to it, their footsteps slow yet loud. Grasping onto their bag, they push the door open and look around – it isn’t an ugly place, not really, but it isn’t inviting either. Police officers are walking around, talking about things they have no right to knowing, and the receptionist at the front raises his eyebrow when he sees Yu coming in.

“Oh, um, excuse me,” they say softly and they approach the receptionist, “is, um, is Officer Uchida Tamaki available right now?” they curse themself for sounding so awkward, but the receptionist smiles at them regardless and sits up a little properly. “If she’s not busy, I’d like to talk to her, please.”

“Would you mind giving me your name first?”

“Na – Narukami Yu.”

Suddenly, the receptionist’s eyes brighten up with recognition, “oh! You’re Dojima’s nephew! Adachi was talking about you a good while ago! I think it was when you just came in here. What a horrible first day it must’ve been, running into a crime scene immediately…”

“Ah, yes. It, um, it was also when I learned how my uncle actually died.”

Sympathy is quick to hit the receptionist’s face and Yu wants to just run away and not see that gaze. “I am so, so sorry. Your uncle was a good man, a good man gone too soon.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll see if I can go get officer Uchida for you. Just take a seat over there and wait for me to come back with her, okay?”

They nod and the receptionist leaves to go find Uchida, making them wonder why he doesn’t just use the phone to call her in but they don’t question it. Officers walk by, peering at Yu curiously before they look away and go back to talking about whatever it is that they’re talking about. Every officer that passes by gives them the building, sudden anticipation for one in specific –

Yu waits, and waits, and waits – but Adachi never passes by. When the receptionist comes back with Uchida in tow, they feel as though they have been waiting for years. She smiles at them and then gestures at them to follow.

“My office’s this way! Let’s talk there.”

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Uchida asks, a smile on her lips and never wavering. Yu’s throat dries up immediately and they open their mouth only to close it immediately. Noticing this, Uchida gets up and quickly grabs some water and offers it to them. They try not to look too nervous as they accept the cup.

They take a quick sip before saying, “do you – do you believe in the supernatural?”

Uchida’s expression doesn’t twitch, falter, or anything. If anything, she waits patiently for them to continue on.

“I ran into Shirogane-san, and – has he told you what he saw, yet?”

“The world inside of the TV,” Uchida says, and Yu nods, “yes, that’s what Shirogane-kun told me, and I believe him… and I believe you also know what lies beneath Shirogane-kun’s exterior, then.” they nod again and Uchida keeps going, “the fact that you came here to me means that you were worried about this reveal, weren’t you?

“Well, you shouldn’t be worried! I believe you – and I don’t think you kids have any reasons to say elaborate lies like that. After all, there are way worse things that weird TV worlds to disbelieve, don’t you think?”

Yu blinks rapidly a few times. “I… I guess? Why are you taking this so well, if I may ask?”

She gives them a wry smile, hands folding on the table before she says, very jauntily, “because I’ve been through something not so dissimilar. Why would I disbelieve something, when I already know it to be true? Anyway, I need to get back to my work. I think it’s best you leave too, Narukami-kun. Say hi to Chisato for me!”

“Wait, before I go,” Yu stands up, hands grabbing the straps of their bag, “are you really going to go through with it? With your plan to get onto the news?”

Uchida startles for a moment. “Yes, I want to see for myself what we’re dealing with. Besides, it’ll be less conspicuous for me to become a fake victim than to go and investigate a lead like this. Go home, Narukami-kun, and get ready for when school starts tomorrow.”

Chisato doesn’t ask them what they talk to Uchida about, given that she most definitely knows, though Yu does relay her greetings to their aunt. They go back home, catch Nanako who comes flying at them for a hug, and they ruffle her hair before watching a little bit of TV with her.

The news is currently going on about Naoto being kidnapped, and the police’s failure to account for a high-schooler’s safety – an interview with one of the officers is to be expected soon, the reporter says, and Yu wonders what is going to become of the whole thing.

* * *

Yosuke waits for them nearby the road to their home, waving at him with a grin.

“Ready for Hell the Second, partner?” Yosuke asks. He waves at Nanako, who squeezes Yu’s hand tightly but doesn’t hide behind them. “Hey there, lil’ lady. You must be Nanako-chan, right? Yu-kun talks about you sometimes.

“Y-yeah! That’s me!” she puffs her chest and cheeks up, looking at Yu with her hamster cheeks before she exhales. Yu smiles sweetly down at her, unaware that Yosuke stops to stare at their face, taking in the way their expression glows and radiates with warmth towards Nanako.

They all go to school together, though Nanako of course branches off to run to school herself. She yells at Yu to have a good luck with ‘Hell the Second’ and they proceed to chase Yosuke down to try and strangle him for his mouth.

Chie and Yukiko witness Yu tackling Yosuke to the ground and sitting on his back, victorious. They shift so that they are sitting cross-legged on the small of Yosuke’s back, look up towards Chie and Yukiko, and raise an eyebrow.

“What.”

The girls look at each other, then back at Yu, down towards Yosuke, then up at each other.

“We’ll just… y’know, wait for you at um, class.” Chie rubs the back of her head, “take your, your uh, time.”

“Be safe!” Yukiko says happily.

School starts with King Moron announcing the details of the trip for this semester _immediately, _which has Yu drifting in and out of paying attention. The rest of the day goes by without a hitch and they all meet up with Kanji again. Yu gives everyone the food they cook at home and everyone looks at them with awe –

“Ye’re a hella good cook, senpai!” Kanji declares.

“You’re a better cook than my mom,” Yosuke says airily, “where’d you learn to cook so well, dude? You’re way better than Chie-chan and Yukiko-chan, combined!”

For a moment, they expect an outcry from either girls, but both of them have this strange, blank look of acceptance. “He’s right,” Chie says, “he’s really, really right.”

“I gave someone food poisoning once when I cooked for her,” Yukiko says, shamefacedly, and Yu looks at her with growing horror, “I overcooked everything except for the meat, which was severely undercooked. I also used the wrong amount of ingredients, and mistook sugar for salt.”

Yu just stares at her.

Serenely, she stares back.

“… please take cooking lessons.”

The first day proves to be fine and uneventful. The second day, however, has everyone immediately going into a frenzy almost as if a celebrity in the school –

Except, there is, and her name is Shirogane Naoto.

On the second day, they arrive at the gates – and behind them trails Shirogane Naoto, dressed in the male version of the school uniform, and she smiles at Yu in greeting.

“Hello, senpai.” she says teasingly and Yu stares at her. She walks up to the gates… and everyone immediately begins yelling and crowding around Naoto, eyes wide and taken up by the fact that the _Detective Prince is here, holy shit! _Everyone begins murmuring among themselves, girls swooning and boys admiring.

On the day she comes to their school is the same day in which she loudly proclaims herself as a girl who can outdo every other ‘prince’ at this school and everything breaks down into chaos.

Despite her being a girl, other girls still swoon over her. Boys begin to conflict over whether or not they are attracted to her, and despite that – you know what? She’s cool, so that makes her attractive. When Naoto waits, clearly, at the school doors for Yu to come up – and only Yu, given that Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko are still gobsmacked – that rumours begin to circulate.

“Wait, the Detective Prince is waiting for Yu-kun?”

“Are they dating?”

“Oh, my god, they must be! Look at how good they look together!”

“Wow, did you ever realise Yu-kun was shy?

“Waaahh… Yu-senpai looks so cute when he’s shy, everyone look at him! He’s blushing!”

“Ohhh my god! They’re perfect together!”

“I may have to give up my goal of dating Yu-senpai… but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop loving him!”

Naoto seems to flush slightly from the rumours at well, though not as much as Yu who is bordering on being a tomato. People scatter when King Moron slams through the school doors and yells at the top of his lungs for _“EVERYONE, STOP LOITERING AND GET TO CLASS ALREADY!”_

They have never been more grateful for King Moron than they are today.

“It seems that Yu-senpai is quite popular at the school,” Naoto says conversationally, “I didn’t expect everyone to begin talking like that.”

They swallow. The rest of the crew are lost to the crowd that begins to force their way into the school and Yu feels… alone, to say the least.

“Yukiko-san’s always very popular in this school. There used to be rumours, for a while, that the two of us were dating because Yukiko-san is my friend.”

Naoto hums thoughtfully. They continue on. “And I was… I was the only one to not take part in the Amagi Challenge—”

“Ah, I’ve heard of that challenge from Kanji-san.”

“You asked him about it?”

“Briefly, before school started up again. I simply told him to give me any details of the school that will help me integrate better, and that grotesque challenge was one that he mentioned off-hand. It seemed as if he never partook in that either, which is quite curious. He never told me why.”

Yu swallows. “I didn’t know about that, but I suppose that he wasn’t popular so people didn’t try to set him up with Yukiko-san immediately.”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Mmm. Was it… was it okay for you to just shout yourself being the greatest girl detective just, out in public like that? I didn’t expect you to do that…”

Naoto smiles secretively at Yu, even if a light blush does slightly diminish her coolness factor. They stand at where they are to separate soon and she briefly tips her hat upwards at Yu. “Sometimes, the simplest and most bizarre method is the better one. Occam’s razor, if you will.”

“Ah. Well, I have to go to class now…”

“Yes, and I should as well, Yu-senpai. Very well then, I will see you during lunch break. Keep your eyes out on the news today, as well.”

“Um. Goodbye, Naoto-san.”

The rest of the day goes by strangely. People immediately begin bombarding Yu with questions whenever the teachers take too long to get to the class and Chie only manages to fight them off ineffectively. Yu repeats the same answers over and over again until Yosuke grabs them by the wrist and makes a mad dash to the roofs with them.

Kanji comes upstairs with Naoto in tow, the two of them looking… quite the odd pair. Him a punk with his jacket tied around his waist, and Naoto with her detective hat still on despite the uniform regulations. It makes them wonder why the school is okay with the fact that Kanji clearly dyes his hair, and chalks it up to something they don’t get.

Lunch is spent in relative peace, surprising given that Naoto seems to have her own fanclub immediately.

“I perhaps underestimated my popularity,” Naoto says, “by… by a large margin. By a lot. I underestimated it by a lot. And I’ve somehow only gotten more popular!? I made a mistake.”

Yosuke snorts. “You can say that again.”

“She made a mistake?” Kanji says, tapping his index on his chin.

“Oh. My God. Kanji.”

“What?!”

Yu feels, very briefly, like they are astral projecting. And maybe they are, honestly. Their school days, they feel, is going to get busier… and this isn’t even including the university entrance exam they need to take – on top of this mystery as well…

They just want everything to go back to normal.

At least Kou is here to cheer them up, his arm slinging around their shoulder and making their heart race.

“Yu-kun!” he says gleefully, “I haven’t seen ya in a while, c’mon. Let’s hang out for a lil’ bit before I gotta go.” he gives a Cheshire cat’s grin and leads them around, a fact that they don’t mind. Kou is taller than them, a little bit broader where Yu is slim, and it feels… nice to have a male friend who doesn’t seem to mind being touchy.

It makes their heart flutter.

* * *

Coming home has them seeing Chisato sitting in front of the TV with the news playing, her brows furrowing, and Yu peeks over at the screen. They don’t have to wait for long, however, as a familiar female voice makes itself clear near immediately –

Officer Uchida is on the news, taking in the brunt of many questions – not only ones to do with Naoto’s kidnapping being ‘leaked’ to the media but also the fact that the case itself is causing general unrest. Uchida navigates through all of the questions diplomatically, no longer looking like the cheerful officer they see her to be every other time.

She knows what questions to dodge, how to answer as to avoid controversies, and a great way to make vague promises without sounding _too _vague. It doesn’t erase the fact that the news outlet is relentless, a fact which clearly bothers Chisato.

Their aunt is quiet the entire time the interview goes on. Dinner’s ready, however, and so Yu makes sure to greet her before settling down to eat, then going upstairs to begin studying for the semester.

Yosuke sends them a text rather soon.

_\- did u see the interview w/ uchida?_

_\- yes._

_\- do u think she’s rly gonna end up in the midnight channel?_

_\- maybe?_

_\- guess we gotta w8 & see. O, btw, I alrdy explained how we operate to natokun  
\- naoto*_

_\- thank you._

_\- its gonna rain tmrw. Wanna watch then?_

_\- sure._

_\- kk! Ttyl partner!_

Time passes quickly, night comes and goes, and soon midnight makes its greeting. They wait and watch their tiny TV screen, waiting for anything. The Midnight Channel clicks on, shows static, and then immediately clicks off.

What?

Does this mean that Uchida isn’t going to fall into the TV world…? Or is she? They don’t know what to make of it.

This does, however, mean that they can go to sleep now – and as their head hits their pillow they begin to wonder to themself,

Are they ever going to tell the rest of the gang that they can watch the Midnight Channel without rain? Should they? Should they tell the rest about the gas station attendant?

Should they tell the rest about their run-ins with Adachi?

They don’t know.


	29. Chapter 27

Having Naoto join them now on their meetings feels… yeah. They don’t have a word to explain it, but there is an odd tension that exists now that Naoto is sitting with them, hands folding on the table and an inquisitive look on her face as she surveys all of them. Yu wants to just go to sleep right now, but the issue is what they all see on the Midnight Channel the night before…

Which is, to say, absolutely nothing.

“I’ve never seen the Midnight Channel just have no one on it,” Chie says airily, her face scrunching up in irritation, “what does that mean?”

Yu shrugs, opting to stay quiet. Naoto, however, seems interested in what Chie has to say, “so you’re saying that every other time, someone did appear on the Midnight Channel?”

“Well, yeah, that’s how we knew people were gonna be thrown in. We’d always watch it on midnight during a rainy night, then we’d see if someone’s gonna get thrown in!” Chie crosses her arms and scrunches her face up even further, somehow, “but, does this mean officer Uchida’s not gonna get thrown in?”

Yukiko taps her nails on the table, looking thoughtful before she says, “but it seems to me that officer Uchida really wants to go through with this plan, right?”

“Yes, that is the case.” Naoto confirms.

“Then, does that not mean that officer Uchida will maybe throw herself in? If Naoto-san’s to be believed, then that means she’s going to go through with the plan and is just using the interview as a cover up.”

“Huh, man, Yukiko-chan, you’re smart.” Yosuke says, winking playfully at her as he does. She rolls her eyes, but smiles kind-heartedly. “But, that makes sense. I mean, that is if we can trust the Midnight Channel one-hundred percent – and that Naoya guy, too.”

Kanji scratches his chin. “Ya think he ain’t tellin’ everythin’ to us? I mean, s’not a dumb assumption, but have ya seen the shit we’re dealin’ with? He’s prob’ly not able to talk ‘bout it, like how government officials can’t talk about like, classified shit.”

“Probably,” Yosuke says after a moment’s pause, “but that’s still something we gotta keep in mind, right? The only thing we can trust is what we do and see, but we can’t just one-hundred percent trust the words of a dude who lives in some sort of transdimensional room.”

“And yet he is the only clue that you all have,” Naoto says, which silences Yosuke immediately, “and it is not as though I can blame you. Initially, officer Uchida and I assumed that there was some sort of connection – the victims were women with black hair, with Konishi Saki being an exception because she must have ‘witnessed’ something, but then Kanji ruined that assumption.”

Yu swallows. “The only thing that they have in common, save for Mayumi Yamano, is me.” Yu says softly, retreating a little, “but even then, I have nothing to do with them – people get kidnapped when I’m at school or at home with Nana-chan and my auntie, or when I’m hanging out with you guys. I can’t be the one doing it.”

Naoto looks at them critically, dissecting them for each second they sit in silence, and Yu meets her gaze as evenly as they can.

“No,” Naoto shakes her head, “you cannot be the perpetrator. You do not match the assumed height and build of the person who is carrying out the kidnappings and attempted murders.” she rubs her forehead, “… but, given that the victims did not remember much, we really do not have much of a lead…”

Yukiko speaks up then, interrupting Naoto from her thoughts, “actually, Kanji-kun helped me remember something.”

“Oh? And what might that be?”

“There was a delivery van – someone came up to the inn when I was the only supervision there and one of the workers called me over to look over what was being delivered. The only thing I remember is trying to tell the man that we didn’t order anything… only for him to knock me out.” she shakes her head and her expression contorts into that of painful shame, “I must have forgotten because of the trauma…”

Chie reaches over and rubs Yukiko’s shoulder, tugging her over a little closer and both of them look surprised by her action. Yukiko, however, seems to give a relieved smile.

“Hm…” Naoto curls her hand at her chin, then looks at Kanji. “Am I to assume that you also had something to do with a delivery van?”

Kanji scratches his chin, looking nervous for a second before he speaks, “uh, yeah. Ma stepped out a lil’ before the van arrived, and ‘cause I know how the shop works I was willin’ to look over the delivery and see if it’s somethin’ for the shop… but I was conked out the moment I went t’check the back of the van.”

“When was this?”

“Early mornin’? S’when no one’s up but ma and me gotta set up the shop for later anyway.”

“A delivery van… a delivery van…” Naoto crosses her arms and closes her eyes, almost looking as though she is meditating. “I will tell officer Uchida that I spoke to the two main victims and got a little more information out of them and have her look over the delivery services here. There are not a lot of companies that deliver to Inaba, are there?”

“No, not really,” Yosuke says, “we’re not really in a good place to trade and stuff like that, and we’re waaaay out of the way. Companies charge more because the road to getting here is broken and bumpy and we don’t really have the best when it comes to postal services. It’s not like we don’t get deliveries here, but it’s expensive and no one wants to charge it. Junes can get away with it because of stuff that you don’t gotta worry about.”

Yosuke spends the next few minutes explaining to Naoto the issues with Inaba and delivery, listing off a lot of things factually and easily. She makes him stop after she is satisfied and he tells her the only companies who deliver to Inaba, and she taps her fingers on her arms.

She questions Chie and Yosuke on how they get their personas because of them not being part of the lineup of victims and seems vaguely satisfied with their answer. The conversation takes a while to steer back onto Uchida, and it ends up running around in circles because of it.

Eventually it ends on Yu actually being the one to stop it, “let’s just wait and see what officer Uchida does. If she goes missing, Shirogane-san-”

“Naoto.”

“–can tell us and we’ll go looking for her in the TV world. I don’t think we need to argue with each other on what her lack of appearance means. Just… just wait. That’s what we’ve always done. For now, we just have to wait on officer Uchida to carry out her plan so that Shiro – Naoto-san can have her get details on the deliveries.

“I think I’m going to go to bed.”

Yosuke blinks, “but it’s only six pm?”

“I’m going to go to bed. Goodbye.”

They meet at school the day after and Yu avoids getting mobbed by a bunch of girls wanting to ask them if they are dating Naoto. To every question they do have to answer on the girls they can’t avoid, however, they say it very firmly that the two of them are not dating. It is extremely exhausting work that makes them retreat to the boy’s bathroom, a place they avoid going to unless they literally can’t hold it in, and they often curl into themself in a toilet stall.

Naoto eats with them on the roof again, though she brings her own food so that she doesn’t ‘leech’ (her words) off of Yu. Yosuke is content to sharing food with them, however, and he sits next to them while eating. Their legs sometimes bump against each other but Yosuke doesn’t acknowledge them when that happens.

Today is an otherwise ordinary day that only gets broken up when Naoto demands that she goes into the TV world so she can start training. Yu then proceeds to be horrified by the sheer strength and power of Naoto’s persona and tells her to never be their enemy.

The next day goes much the same. It is on the final day of the week that Naoto comes up onto the roof, looking thoughtful as always.

“Officer Uchida went missing – she came to work but then left abruptly then sort of disappeared. We should probably go check the TV world, see what Teddie says.”

They all agree on that before immediately going back to talking about silly things – like manga, anime, American comic books, French movies (weirdly enough), and Yukiko even briefly goes on a very strange rant about the history of cooking in Europe. Specifically, she goes on a rant about the history of cooking in _Italy. _

Yu doesn’t understand a single word of what she says but they are glad she has something to be passionate about.

“I want to run my own restaurant,” is how Yukiko concludes it, “I think that would be a lot of fun! Managing my own restaurant… ohhh! It can even be a small, cozy one! I think that would be fun.”

“You… you know the logistics of that is gonna be hard, right?” Yosuke says.

“That’s why I have you around! Chie can be one of my waitresses!”

“Why do I get a waitress job?! Wait – I didn’t agree to any of this!”

* * *

They meet up at Junes after changing into comfortable clothes and Yu decides to go with a sweater again, though this time they keep their binder on. They loiter around and walk until the electronics’ department is empty before they jump into the TV.

Naoto lands gracefully, only to then ruin it by tripping over her own feet and smacking down onto her face. Teddie waits for them, though he seems confused by something.

“Teddie, did a woman fall into here?” Yu asks and Teddie looks up at them with a look of what can only be described as ‘someone doubting reality and their own existence in the reality they doubt’. They blink. He blinks back. “So… did someone fall into here?”

“Uh, yeah, but.” Teddie rubs his ears, as though trying to figure out how to explain this. “She wasn’t… thrown in? She just came in herself, and, uh… she didn’t have a palace.”

“She… didn’t?”

“No, she didn’t! She just came in here with her gun, cocked it, and said, ‘demons, huh?’ then just started exploring. I can find her for you if you want, she had a very distinct smell, kinda like you guys do.”

“Lead the way.”

It takes a little bit of sniffing before Teddie finds Uchida for them and it is as he says: there is no new palace for them to explore, but he does take them a little deeper into the demon world. They begin to see structures they have never seen before, statues of angels enshrouded in mist and of large faces staring down at them all.

Far from their reach, corpses litter the lands below and there are demons fighting amongst each other – demons that they have never seen before. A statue of a young man stands in the centre, unfinished and waiting. For a moment they swear the statue’s head moves to stare at them. One blink dispels the illusion immediately.

None of these are palaces from what they gather.

“What are these things? What is going on here?” Yu asks.

Teddie falters for a second. “Those out there are the stronger demons, and they’re waiting for something. They don’t really care about the fog, nor the rain, nor the stuff that I do – but they’re waiting for something, and it scares Teddie.”

The fog fades away at some point, revealing an impressively, impeccably large statue – one of a being made of sinuous veins and a large gem settling in the middle of its ‘belly’, holding a sword and a mask acting as a shield. The eyes of the mask follow them all as they walk, forcing them to feel a sense of shame and self-hatred, of overwhelming guilt.

“Who… who is that supposed to be?” Yukiko asks.

“That’s an angel,” Teddie says quietly, “an archangel.”

He says nothing else besides that and Yu can’t shake the feeling that they are being watched, even as they leave the vicinity of the statue.

They make it to the end of their trek and stumble upon Uchida… who is fighting off some extremely strong demons. Yu moves to get everyone into formation only to be stopped when Uchida whips her gun out, brandishes it out towards an approaching demon, and takes a shot made of pure energy into the thing.

The rest of the fight goes easily for her – she is an extremely acrobatic and athletic person, having to manoeuvre around as to keep herself from being murdered, and her gun takes the demons down easily. She stops the fight, turns, and startles when she sees them all.

“Oh, hello!” she waves, “I expected you guys to come here. This is a weird place, huh?”

“Uh.” Yu says.

“Well, lead the way! I got lost, and, honestly, I should’ve just went into the Velvet Room, but I wanted to explore first, but. I got lost! I have no clue where I am! This isn’t Japan, after all!”

“Hooooooow did you fight them off without a persona?” Yosuke asks.

Uchida holsters her gun then places her hands on her hips, a wide, beaming smile on her face as she says, “because I’m a Devil Summoner! Duh!”

On the way back, Uchida proceeds to tell them all about her school experience which involves someone gaining apocalyptic power to transport them to another dimension that then involves Uchida and another one of her classmates to go through demon cities to save the world. Death also ends up only being temporary, which then leads to her cycling through personas to be able to defeat the person with the apocalyptic powers and then she comes back to Japan as normal as ever.

“I wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, to be honest with you.” Uchida says happily, as though she didn’t just explain that she gets involved – through sheer accident – with saving the world from an apocalypse.

That revelation, however, leads Naoto to explaining to Uchida what is happening – the reason as to why the rain in Inaba is occurring more often, alongside the heavier, denser fogs that everyone does their best to avoid.

Her expression slowly, painfully, turns into that of seriousness and dread. It looks utterly out of place on her and Yu cannot understand what it must feel like to be in Uchida’s shoes.

“If the demon world comes into the human world,” Uchida says carefully, “it may be a repeat of what happened years ago. No one remembers it, not anymore, but… I went through it, another went through it, and another after him. But before, every time, it was at the hands of a human manipulated through greater beings.”

She shakes her head, wincing a little, “thankfully, this is happening slowly – the world isn’t in jeopardy yet, but… but when I was younger, it was happening so quickly. Everything was falling apart, but we managed to stop it before Japan was wiped out. But this time… I don’t know. This one is so small-scale that it feels impossible to figure it out.”

“Can you help us?” Yu says, their hands wringing together nervously and they try to shove the anxiety down, “I don’t know if we can do this. We don’t even know where to start, and I feel like we’re just following after dangers without understanding them –”

“As long as you save the victims, Narukami-kun, you’re doing the right thing.” she puts a comforting hand on their shoulder, though she immediately removes it when Yu winces. “Shirogane-kun said something about delivery vans, right? I’ll look into getting a warrant to get the schedules of the delivery van drivers, so we can start there. If we find the person throwing people into the TV, then we can stop this.”

Uchida turns towards the Velvet Room when Teddie leads them back to the start, her gaze curious yet not treating the door as unfamiliar. She reaches out, twists the knob, and pushes the door open. They all trail behind her.

“Welcome to- Tamaki?!” Naoya gasps out when Uchida takes a step in, his eyes wide and mouth agape in shock. He moves closer to Uchida and she stares at Naoya with equal amounts of shock and awe.

“… Naoya? You’re… you’re here?” she says with a soft voice, so gentle, and her face twists into that of something heartbroken, “Naoya, what happened to you? Is this because of Philemon?”

He walks up to her, places a hand on her cheek, and opts in hugging her instead of answering. She gives him an uncertain hug back, her eyes slamming shut the moment they get glossy. “You’ve been here this whole time.”

“I can’t remember much,” he says when he separates from her, a smile on his face – one that looks sincere instead of playful or polite, “and I never expected to remember you again. But, yes, I’m here, and I am the one who owns the Velvet Room… This is my duty now. But what brings you here? You’re not supposed to be here.”

Uchida smiles sadly at him, stepping back before she moves to reveal Yu and their team. Naoya looks at them all as he does every other time.

“I’m the police officer in charge of this case,” she says, “and I’m helping these kids investigate who is doing this.”

“You always were an annoyingly good person,” Naoya grins, “I wish you the best of luck, then – but you have to remember, Tamaki. The one making the decisions here is not you, and I’m sure you realise who it is, don’t you?”

Uchida doesn’t say anything. The two of them converse for a little while longer before they depart and leave the Velvet Room. She refuses to explain anything about her past with Naoya, however; she smiles sadly every time one of them asks.

It is best left to her and Naoya. If she doesn’t want to talk about it, then there is no need to force her to.

Teddie wishes them goodbyes, though he looks at Uchida with an odd look before glancing over to Yu. He looks like he wants to say something but proceeds to push them into the TV instead, opting against speaking his mind.

“I think you kids should just enjoy yourselves for now.” Uchida says when they are in the electronics department, a hand on her gun holster. “Leave the annoying bureaucratic work to Shirogane-kun and I. Narukami-kun, I’ll try to visit you in a week or so, okay? I’ll explain everything to Chisato, and you don’t have to worry about her not believing you.

“Take care of yourselves, kids. And make sure to study hard for your university entrance exams!”

In a way, Yu feels relieved – having someone on the police whom they can trust and confide into about all these strange things happening… it definitely lifts a weight off of their shoulders, especially when officer Uchida seems intimately familiar with all of this demon business. They can also, most likely, get their hands on more information that can help them with their investigation.

This is something that they don’t know if the normal police can deal with; this is something that Yu has to deal with. They aren’t alone through this at least, but a new fear begins to bubble within their veins –

They still haven’t faced their demons.

When will they appear on the TV…?


	30. Chapter 28

A few days pass by and nothing happens. They do end up going on more training trips when they have nothing to do, thanks to Naoto convincing Yu that it is the best choice of action and it isn’t as if they doubt her. It is at least two weeks before the trip is brought up – rather, yelled up by King Moron.

“ALRIGHT,” he kicks his leg up and smacks his foot up against an invisible enemy in the air, as theatrical as ever, “listen up! You sad lot have a TRIP in a few weeks. Now, for you pathetic kids, this is all MANDATORY. You can’t skip out of it! You and the juniors are gonna be goin’ in on this trip TOGETHER, so behave your best and set up a GOOD IMPRESSION and be GOOD ROLE MODELS for these dumb nuts. GOT IT?”

After that, school continues on as normal. There hasn’t been anyone to be seen on the Midnight Channel, but Yu’s repetitive dreams continue on and on. They see the same figure, hear the same voice, and it drives them mad – visiting the Velvet Room doesn’t help them any as well. Naoya still can’t tell them anything, having to stay quiet about the whole thing, but he is apologetic all the same.

When they bring up Yamato-Takeru’s appearance to Naoya, he flinches.

“The only thing I can tell you is that if he’s appearing like that, it’s probably because something changed in the demon world –a change you probably already know by now what it is. I can’t do much else besides be here in the Velvet Room for you.”

Adachi visits Chisato a few times this week, always so casual with them and Chisato and they try not to bolt away every time he puts a hand on Yu’s back.

“How’s the investigation going, Adachi-kun?” Chisato asks.

He huffs, amused, ruffling Yu’s hair as he passes them by to walk up to the kitchen. They try not to squeeze onto Nanako while she sits on their lap.

“It’s goin’ good, the prince detective kiddo’s workin’ with us, you heard about that Dojima-chan?”

“Of course,” she smiles and offers him a glass of water, “I heard from Tamaki she got kidnapped. Poor girl.”

He takes a sip of his water, “mm. Kid’s okay. Didn’t expect her to be a girl, though. Eh, doesn’t matter. But, it’s going. The kid managed to pick up a lead that we couldn’t and now Uchida’s investigating it. We’re all just goin’ through the crime scene and siftin’ through a buncha fake claims.”

“Fake claims? People are claiming to be the kidnapper?”

“Yeah. Some random kid came up a few days ago to, claiming he was the kidnapper and that he did it because he got mad at the Amagi girl. Nothing he said made sense so we dismissed him, though we had to jail him for violence.”

“Oh dear, did he attack you?”

“Sure did. Saw Uchida and he broke into a rage that made him try to attack her. No clue why.”

Chisato frowns, “well, I’m glad she wasn’t hurt. Tamaki didn’t tell me anything about that!”

Adachi chuckles, “probably because she didn’t want you to worry, Dojima-chan.”

The conversation comes to an end and he waves at Chisato before he goes back to sitting near them and Nanako. He comes back down to sitting next to Yu, crossing his legs next to them and he ruffles their hair. “Your hair really does look better when it’s all wavy and messy, doesn’t it, Yu-kun?”

“Ah,” they smile shyly, “thank you, but I prefer to have my hair stay this way…”

“Hmmm.” Adachi continues to play with a lone strand of hair, however, “your hair’s grown a lot, kiddo. You gonna go to a barber soon?”

They clap their hands onto Nanako’s when she slides off, playing patty cakes with her absentmindedly. “Yes.”

“I can recommend you a place if you’d like.”

Nanako squeezes their cheeks, causing them to laugh and they gently ease her hands off of their face. It helps distract from the fact that Adachi is sitting so close.

“I would appreciate that, Adachi-san, thank you.”

He smiles strangely at them, a bit too happily, and Yu doesn’t think too much about it.

They are probably overthinking it – just like they have been ever since fleeing their old school. They try to focus, instead, on how nice Adachi is, really – he is always so kind and gentle with Nanako and treats Chisato well, he has to be a good person. He is just a very eccentric man in how he handles social situations.

After all, he still vomits at crime scenes. That means he’s harmless, isn’t he?

He’s harmless, just weird. There’s no need to judge someone for being weird.

“Did you ever think about what I suggested?” Adachi asks and Yu fails to fight off the panic on their face as they realise they can’t remember. Adachi laughs and rubs circles on their back, hand curling into a fist to knuckle against the tense spots he feels. He hums curiously. “Don’t worry about it, kid. I was just asking if you’re gonna enter the maths competition. If I remember right, you got a trip soon, yeah? The competition’ll open up after the trip. It’ll do you some good.”

“I think cousin Yu should do it!” Nanako says, her cheerful voice a distraction from the rising anxiety in their chest, “because you’re the smartest ever!”

They give a small smile, “okay, if you say so, Nana-chan. I’ll sign up when the trip’s over.”

“You’re a good kid, Yu.” Adachi says sweetly.

They avoid his gaze.

* * *

The school gives them some outfits to wear two weeks before the trip, tracksuits that share the look of their school uniform. It is for the trip, clearly, and Yukiko proceeds to actually explain the trip to Yu because even reading the trip form doesn’t explain much of anything. Chisato signs off on it, of course, and she wishes them a good time.

“We’re going to go camping on the mountains,” Yukiko says, “then we go and do a few activities, though we’re free to do whatever we want as long as it’s not in violation of the school code. I think we’ve had this trip every year because it’s a way to help the upper and lower classes relax, especially because things get hectic around this time of year – even at the start!”

“But it’s mandatory,” Yu says, “and if you don’t come you’ll lose out on grades?”

“… Yes.”

“That doesn’t sound relaxing.”

“The education system is contradictory, and the floor is a floor.”

Of course, there is still nothing new on the news that alerts them to anyone being thrown in, and the Midnight Channel doesn’t show them anything. Sometimes they swear they see a figure in the horizon of the Midnight Channel, that someone is just _waiting _out there, but there is absolutely nothing. Naoto doesn’t calm their worries any as she tells them that Uchida is currently going through a bureaucratic mess trying to get a warrant.

She first tries to simply get records of the deliveries made only to run into trouble – apparently the company doesn’t want to be ‘falsely’ tied to any kidnappings so Uchida has to go and convince her (temporary) boss that a warrant is necessary.

“It’s been… trying,” Naoto says carefully, “but officer Uchida is working on it, don’t worry. She supposes that she will be done shortly, perhaps in a day or so. Why don’t we simply focus on school and the upcoming trip? I look forward to going on it with you, senpai.”

A month passes by and nothing _happens. _After that elaborate plan that Naoto and Uchida pull off, everything seems to be calming down little by little. It leaves them to wonder if it is because the perpetrator is getting annoyed at constantly being found, so maybe he is doing something else while he lays in wait…?

Everyone else takes the opportunity to just hang out with each other and Yu finds themself spending more time with Yosuke, Kanji and Naoto when the three aren’t busy. Chie and Yukiko are busy trying to find odd jobs to keep themselves busy – they hang out with Yu and the rest whenever the two of them are not busy on a self-imposed task.

“You excited for the trip, partner?” Yosuke says with a wink, grinning at them as they walk side-by-side. “We’re gonna go to a nice part of the mountains! Relax, have a swim maybe, have you cook for us like the househusband that you are~”

“Since when I am a househusband?” they ask, tired, and Yosuke snickers, “but, yes. I’m excited. Going to the mountains sound nice, even though everyone seems upset because King Moron is coming…?”

Yosuke makes a face of disgust at his name, “eugh, yeah. The dude’s gonna act as our supervisors, especially to keep the boys and girls from sneaking to one another I guess? Or something? I’uhno.”

He shakes his head then crosses his arms behind him, his headphones blaring with music even if he isn’t listening to them. “D’ya wanna talk about what’s been sitting on your mind?”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve been looking really stressed lately, and I don’t think it’s because of school. What are you worried about? Is it the Midnight Channel?”

They swallow the lump in their throat, trying to figure out a response to him only for Yosuke to sigh and drop his arms. He does turn his music off, causing the rather comforting background noise to disappear. Yu looks up at him uncertainly.

“Hey, you’re my partner in crime, right?” Yosuke asks and Yu nods without thinking, “then… do you wanna tell me what’s bothering you? I won’t be mad at you or anything, I promise.”

_‘How can I tell you that I’m scared my demons are going to come up?’ _they think, _‘how can I tell you that I’m scared you and everyone else will figure out my secret? How am I going to tell you that? I don’t want everyone to know why I transferred schools, I don’t want everyone to figure out what I am. I’m scared. I’m really, really scared. I’m more scared than I’ve ever been.’_

They say, “nothing’s been showing up on the Midnight Channel and no one’s appeared on the news, so I guess I’m just antsy. It’s nothing to worry about – I’m sure the cool mountain area will help me feel better…”

“And maybe a swim, too?” they freeze. Yosuke thankfully doesn’t notice as he looks ahead and doesn’t realise Yu has to skip ahead to catch up again. “Junes is having a sale on a bunch of swimsuits and swimming shorts lately because of the trip, so maybe all of us can go and buy something?”

“I don’t… I don’t swim.” Yu manages out.

That doesn’t seem to deter Yosuke, however. “Well, you can still get a nice swim trunk for the ladies, y’get what I mean? I bet a lotta girls wanna see your half-naked bod, dude. You’re popular!”

“Aha… maybe I’ll be a Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks to match.”

“Ugh, you are no fun dude.

Better safe than fun but Yu keeps that comment to themself.

The two of them chat together about nothing in particular, Yosuke following Yu to their home while on his bike and he briefly runs into Chisato and Nanako as he does. Nanako runs back into the house soon, however.

Adachi is there as well, and they don’t know why they are surprised to see him. He has his hands in his pockets, his head tilting to the side, and a crooked smile on his face as Yu and Yosuke walk up, the latter putting his bike away first.

“Yu-kun, good to see you.” Adachi says with that ever-present crooked smile and his sharp, narrowed eyes. “You brought a friend with you, that’s good. I was just asking Dojima-chan if you’ve been settling in well, here, given that I haven’t had the chance to keep an eye on Ryoutarou-san’s _nephew._”

They laugh and clutch their bag tightly. “Hello, Adachi-san.” they bow briefly and Adachi chuckles at them, murmuring something along the lines of ‘always so polite’ and Yu straightens up. “Are you going to be staying over?”

“Oh, no, Adachi-kun was just passing by.” Chisato says, “he’s going to have to go soon, but it’s always nice to see him regardless.”

“Later, kiddo.”

They watch him get back into his car and then drive off, the roaring of the engine extremely discomforting.

“But enough about that – is that a friend? Oh, you’ve got quite the handsome friend, Yu-kun!” Chisato says playfully and Yosuke laughs, waving bashfully at their aunt.

“I’m Hanamura Yosuke, ma’am. It’s very nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of Yu-kun while he’s staying here.” he bows.

“It’s no problem – Yu-kun’s been a blessing while he’s been staying here,” she says kindly, “would you like to stay for a little while? I have dinner ready, and Nana-chan would love the extra company.”

Yosuke smiles sheepishly, “sorry, but I can’t tonight. My parents’ll get upset with me if I stay over at someone else’s house without telling them, but maybe another night! I’d leave to stay a night at Yu-kun’s home.”

He bids everyone farewell then looks at Yu with a soft smile before he turns, hops onto his bike, and takes his leave. Chisato just seems happy to see Yu having friends.

“Come on home, Yu-chan, you don’t want to your food to get cold, do you?”


	31. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I am aware I triple-updated, but, I don't know. I've been really inspired lately.

Despite their protests of not wanting to swim, Yosuke manages to convince to go swimsuit shopping with him in Junes. He flaunts the fact that his father is giving him and his friends even further discounts so that tempts everyone to come along, even Yu who doesn’t _really _want to go. There are a lot of very cute bikinis and one-piece swimsuits around, none of which they can wear, so they just let everyone else know that they don’t like swimming and don’t explain any further.

Yosuke walks everyone around, pointing out all of the nicest suits and comparing materials and prices. He is extremely good at what he does, Yu has to admit, as he convinces Chie to buy a cheaper piece that is deceptively better than a big-name brand. He goes around like that, helping everyone find a brand that suits them – and he even helps Kanji, despite how awkwardly he acts around him as he plucks swim trunks off of displays and show them to him.

Watching those two is nothing short of cringe-inducing and awkward, especially with Yosuke constantly trying to avoid looking at Kanji’s crotch or his hips. Kanji, thankfully, either doesn’t notice or pretends not to notice to spare Yosuke’s dignity. Yu doesn’t want to ask what’s up with Yosuke, not trusting themselves not to be as confused as Kanji looks.

At some point everyone goes on their own shopping trip throughout the swimming section, leaving Yu to simply wait while they read a small book they bring with them.

“Hey, partner, lookin’ bored over here.” they look up and at Yosuke’s easygoing smile, his oddly gentle expression as he looks at Yu. They shift a little uncomfortably, putting their book away into their messenger bag. “Sorry if this isn’t fun for you, I just thought it’d be nice if we all hung out and just did something normal.”

“It’s fine,” Yu says, “I like watching you work – you really know what you’re talking about, it’s hard not to notice. Honestly, you’re very amazing in this sort of thing.”

A surprised look appears on his face before a bashful smile makes it way onto Yosuke’s lips, making him look shier than he normally is. “I mean, business is actually what I like, y’know? My dad taught me as much as he could when I told him I wanna go and become a businessman like him, but I’m more likely gonna end up as a rounin.”

“There’s nothing bad in being a salaryman,”

“Still sucks though!” Yosuke says, before he takes a step back further. Yu falls in line with him. “Y’know, when we first became friends, all of us, I thought – maybe I should buy the girls some pretty swimsuits to ‘complement’ their figures, or whatever. I thought, I thought it’d be nice.” they stay silent, letting Yosuke continue on talking. He crosses his arms and flexes his fingers, looking thoughtful, “but that would’ve come off as creepy, huh?”

Yu plays with their bitten thumb nail, poking at the skin around. “A little bit, even if Chie-san and you are childhood friends. I would’ve felt discomforted if my female friend bought me clothes because they thought it’d make me look nicer in that way.” they look around, peering at Naoto who is staring at a one-piece with squinted eyes and an almost angry gaze. “What made you change your mind? Besides realising it would’ve been creepy.”

“… I’ve been thinking, a lot, ever since Saki-senpai’s palace… and even more after running into Naoto-kun’s palace.” he looks at Naoto alongside Yu, laughing a little when she reads the price tag of a particular swimsuit and immediately looks queasy. “For some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I kept thinking about all the stress Saki-senpai must’ve felt, all of the pressures on her, and then it made me think… she has a brother, y’know. In the same year as Kanji and Naoto-kun.”

They let out a soft ‘oh’. “I didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t expect you to.” Yosuke exhales deeply out through his nose, looking distant for a moment. “Sometimes whenever I’d see Saki-senpai with her brother, I’d hear her telling him about how he shouldn’t worry about what their parents think, because he’ll be fine. She just has to work hard for the both of them. And, I don’t know, I guess I started wondering… did her parents expect less from her?

“She got a job at Junes to help pay with rent, but her parents got mad. If her brother did that, would they think he’s being the man of the house? It made me wonder, a lot. I couldn’t ask the brother, I mean, obviously. And I couldn’t ask her.”

Yu looks up at him and he meets their gaze, looking almost scared of what Yu has to say. “It’s a good thing to think about things like this,” Yu says, “it stimulates the brain, and maybe in the end you’ll be a better person. If you learn the right lessons, that is.” they look back towards where Chie and Yukiko are arguing over something, probably the aesthetics of a swimsuit, and they fold their hands above their knees. “Didn’t you confess to Konishi-san?”

“Yeah, I did. She rejected me, you could tell, right? She told me that even if she liked me back, she’s just too busy and stressed out to pay attention to me, and she doesn’t want me to feel ignored.” he shakes his head, a smile on his face. “But I was happy to just get closure before she left for university, you know. I was just happy she still liked me as a friend. She even gave me a hug and wished me luck.”

“She sounds like a really kind woman.”

Yosuke pats their shoulder a few times and Yu lets him, does their best to at least. “She is, and she made me think, a lot. We had a long, long talk at the hospital. I apologised to her a lot, that we couldn’t save her earlier, that she was always so busy, that I just made it worse… and she told me it was okay.

“She made me think, and Naoto-kun’s palace made me think more. It’s strange, right? To think that her mother was better than her father, but she was never seen that way. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in her shoes, knowing the truth but no one believes you.”

“You’ve had time to think on this a lot, didn’t you?” Yu says, their gaze moving back towards Yosuke. “Did you come to any conclusions to the questions you’ve had in your head? Do you have any answers?”

Yosuke hesitates for a moment. “… I think I do, actually. I’ve looked at myself, at what I did, and I realised that my shadow never left me. He’s always gonna be there, but he’s there to help me become a better person. I need to remember that. Little by little, I’ll be a better guy. Maybe you’ve noticed it, but, Kanji-kun – the thought of him being, being…” _‘gay,’ _Yu supplements for him. “I’m trying to accept that. I want to be better than the voices in his palace.”

“You’ll get there,” Yu says genuinely, “you will get there. You’re not a bad person, and I know you’ll improve yourself… p-partner.”

He stares at Yu then tries not to break out into a giggling fit when they see how red their face is. They glare at him. “Oh my god, Yu-kun, you are so shy, has anyone ever told you that?”

“Shut. Up.”

Yosuke still ends up laughing but he does eventually calm down and he smiles fondly at Yu. “Thanks, it means a lot coming from you. Thank you. If I could say it a thousand times, I feel like it wouldn’t be enough.”

“It doesn’t have to be enough,” Yu says softly, “but I’ll always accept you, as long as you don’t become a terrible person. Thank you.”

Their moment of peace is interrupted by everyone coming back to say they are done browsing. Yu takes a lot of the bags from them, much to the gang’s protest, and Yosuke takes the last few just to follow behind Yu and help with payment. Everyone else promises to pay them back and Yu just reminds them that they are richer than they ever will be because of the palaces.

That makes the team shut up for a moment.

* * *

The day before the trip something odd happens. King Moron calls out to them and asks them to stay behind after school stops, and everyone looks at them with pity. Students filter out of the classroom and Yu waits, patiently, for the class to empty out. King Moron looks at the door as well, waiting until the door slams shut behind the last student.

“Narukami,” Morooka says, and his voice is oddly calmer and gentler than usual, “I’ve noticed that lately, you’ve been zoning out in class.” they open their mouth to hurriedly explain themself, but Morooka brings a hand up to silence them. “It’s okay, you’re not in trouble for that. I asked the other teachers and you’ve been having issues paying attention there, too. Your grades are still the top of the school, so good on you. You’re gonna get into a good university.”

They shift and look around, thrown out of their comfort zone as Morooka speaks normally to them. “Then, sensei, can I ask why I’ve been asked to stay behind…?”

Morooka sighs, brings one hand up to ruffle his hair, and for a moment he just looks like a normal teacher concerned for a student. “Have you been stressed out with anything lately?” he says finally and Yu just stares. “You fell asleep in class once, and I made sure that I didn’t talk about anything that would’ve been in the final exam. You look more and more tired, and you seem upset when you look off into the distance. I know this isn’t affecting your marks, but it ain’t normal for a kid to look as tired as you do.”

They clench their school bag, mouth open but no words coming out. They really don’t know how to respond and Morooka just waits, patiently, for them to say something. They look down shamefacedly instead, their ears burning with the guilt of not being able to speak up.

“If you don’t wanna talk about it, it’s okay.” Morooka reassures, sounding so strange as he does. “Okay, you don’t have to say a lot. You can say, yes, no, or don’t want to answer. I’m gonna ask a few questions, okay, Narukami?”

They nod.

“Have you been unable to sleep lately?”

“Yes.”

“Is it because you’ve been studying a lot?”

“No.”

“Is it because of things happening in your home life?”

“No. My family is good to me, so please don’t worry about that.”

He nods, looks relieved, then continues on. “Is something outside of your school and family stressing you out?”

“… yes.”

“Is it anything I can help you with?”

“I don’t want to answer.”

“Okay. Do you want me to stop asking?”

“…”

“It’s okay to say yes.”

They don’t know why their vision goes hazy as they speak, “yes.”

“I’m one of the teachers supervising for the trip tomorrow,” Morooka says, “if you don’t want to go, tell me. I’ll let the other teachers know that you’re an exception, and don’t hafta go. Even if it’s the day-of.”

“No, I want to go.”

“Okay, Narukami.” he shifts a little then clicks his heels, “you can go now, you’re not in any trouble. I just wanted to check up on you. Get home safely, kid, and I hope the trip’s good for you.”

They walk out after that, rubbing their eyes as they leave that surreal experience. Kanji is the one who finds them before everyone else, looking to be on a quick errand for a teacher, and he looks at Yu with worry.

“Hey, are you okay? I heard King Moron called you out. You in trouble or summin’?”

“No, no, I’m fine. Thank you for worrying over me. I hope we’re in the same tent tomorrow, Kanji-san.”

He blinks, then realisation dawns on him, “oh, crap, right! Trip’s tomorrow! Yeah, me too, senpai. Anyway, I gotta go to the music teach real quick. You take care now, you got me? You be safe, or I’m gonna kick your ass!”

They smile and wave him off. They let Yukiko, Chie and Yosuke know that they are going to go home alone and let that walk back give them time to think and thy all say their goodbyes to each other. They can briefly hear Chie yelling at Yosuke about his bad taste in movies before she goes on to talk at lengths about B-rated horror flicks. They really, really are lucky to have friends like those three, aren’t they? Friends that they’re going to spend a lot of time with tomorrow.

Tomorrow, they’re going to just relax and be a normal student tonight. Tomorrow, they’ll have fun with their friends and impress them all with their cooking. Tomorrow, they’re going to go to the trip.

With a skip in their step, they walk all the way back home.


	32. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be using this chapter and the next as a soft breather, though I might double update today just because. I promise no guarantee, but I do want to treat the camping trip as a way for both me, and hopefully you, to relax and also do some mild character developments. Hopefully you agree with me that we have a good ol' break.

Chisato wakes them up early in the morning, shushing them gently as to avoid waking Nanako up, and then gives them a quick breakfast before she drives them off towards the school. “You won’t get there on time with the bus,” she says, “because they don’t come up at this time of day.” Yu tries their best not to fall asleep but end up jostling awake at the end anyway when Chisato gently calls out to them.

They are wearing the tracksuit the school provides to them, alongside some clothes to go to sleep with and other such clothes, though the one thing they are extremely nervous about is whether or not someone will find their binders.

“It’s going to be okay,” Chisato says, “you’re going to be okay. Just take care of yourself, okay? Let yourself be a teen for once.”

They step outside of the car, gym bag in tow, and wave goodbye at her before jogging up towards the rest of the class. Yosuke is there as well, Yukiko and Naoto too, and Chie and Kanji are the only ones left. They suppose those two will come in late and they slot themself in between Yosuke and Naoto when the two of them seem to be discussing something.

“Oh, partner!” Yosuke says mid-conversation, a smile on his face, “man, I always forget you’re so short.”

“Shut up.” they say with a yawn, a hand coming up to cover their mouth before they shake their head, “I’m sorry, did I interrupt the conversation?”

Naoto crosses her arms, looking amused but tired, and she shakes her head. “No, it’s fine. I was just asking Yosuke-kun a little more clarification about the delivery services to Inaba, and if he can tell me anything about them because Junes needs shipment, and I want to know which company supplies the store.”

“There’s kinda not a lot I can say, but I can tell you it’s always been YYY company that delivers to us. There’s also XXX, but they’re more expensive and more for like the rich business dudes who live here.”

Yu scratches their cheek. “What about ZZZ?”

“Oh, I forgot about those guys. My family doesn’t use ZZZ, but I think they’re mostly used by the small businesses here because of this incentive program they have?” Yosuke rubs his chin in thought, “hey, Yukiko-chan, which company delivers to your home usually?”

“YYY or ZZZ.” Yukiko says, “it all depends on what my parents feel like having their deliveries done by.”

Naoto closes her eyes and for a moment, Yu thinks she falls asleep while standing up. She does shake her head and rub her eyes before speaking up, “then is it safe for me to assume Kanji’s delivery may have been done by ZZZ?”

“Probably. ZZZ’s kinda got the unofficial rep of being for the little guys, but it’s better you ask him yourself. I don’t know anything about his mother and his business.”

Kanji and Chie arrive five minutes later and Naoto sets to questioning the former vigorously, the poor guy looking out of his depth. She does come out looking no different than usual when Kanji tells her that, as far as he knows, it is ZZZ company who delivers to his mother’s workplace. He doesn’t really remember what the delivery guy looks like, however, only that he has a ‘really weird dopey face with like a mole or something?’

A mole? Does Yu know anyone with a mole?

They don’t get to focus on it for long as Morooka yells out to everyone to get on the buses already and that they have ten minutes to get on. They all rush to get inside and to find bus seats close to each other so that conversations can still be had. They sit next to Kanji, Yosuke is with Naoto, and Chie and Yukiko sit together.

“The bus ride is going to take at least two or three hours!” Morooka grouches at the front, hands in his pockets, and another teacher sits at the very front while giggling at his behaviour. “You kids just be on your best behaviour. If you gotta go to the bathroom, tell us right now and we’ll actually WAIT for ya! Go now, I’m givin’ you guys five minutes to see if you gotta go to the BATHROOM or not!”

After a few students run out to go to the school bathroom and rush back in, Morooka hunches over and begins to explain the trip, the bus revving into life as he does. “Now, REMEMBER, we are going there on the GOOD GRACES of the rangers in the MOUNTAINS! You gotta set a GOOD EXAMPLE for us. No LITTERING, there are BINS THERE for your needs.

“Do NOT go into the mountain forest WITHOUT a ranger to guide you out in case you get LOST. Girls and boys are ALLOWED to mingle, but at night, you STAY in the designated areas, NO SNEAKING OUT. You can wear ANY variation of the school uniform, and you’re allowed to wear WHATEVER you want when you go to sleep. NOTHING OFFENSIVE. GOT IT?”

“Yes!” everyone echoes in the bus and Morooka grunts, slouches over, then sidles into the opposite front seat. He falls asleep soon after, quietly snoring as he does.

The gang proceed to distract each other by talking about random things, jumping topic to topic frequently and quickly. At some point the conversation circulates around to the barbeque that the seniors are going to have, where they will make food for everyone to eat, and Yosuke says that him and Yu should team up so that they can make good food.

Chie immediately barges in to say that “I cannot cook at ALL” and begs Yu to let her into the team alongside Yukiko, and Yu just says “okay” because… sure, okay? This isn’t that serious. Yosuke pokes at Chie for being bad at cooking and the two undergo a faux argument which feels more like they are watching two siblings argue than anything else.

They do sometimes zone out from the conversations just to look outside, taking in the nice weather and they are extremely grateful that there is no heavy, dense fog today. That is one thing they have been noticing as well – every time there is fog then it is dense to the point of practically blinding. It only gets that bad the darker it gets, but they feel as though the fog is just getting worse and worse.

The mountains being a good bit away, however, seem to at least have nothing but fresh air waiting for them. They smile while looking outside, taking in the nice scenery, and they cross their legs while they wait for the bus to go. The rocking and bumping of the bus makes their eyelids flutter, their gaze growing heavier and heavier, until…

“Hey, senpai! Hey senpaaaaai!” Kanji’s voice cuts through their mind and they jolt awake, looking around confused before gazing at him with recognition in their eyes. “We’re here, c’mon!”

They follow him off of the bus towards a really nice clearing – there are flowers swaying in the gentle wind and lots and lots of trees. There are a few cabins a good distance away, not any with enough room to house them all but more than likely where the students can go to in case they want to go to the bathroom. There are also some portable bathrooms apparently nearby, according to the other teacher onboard.

Yosuke and Kanji get Yu to come along and help set up a tent for later, and they see the other boys doing the same. Most of them seem to be taking this as an opportunity to just talk about normal things, things that aren’t the Velvet Room or the Midnight Channel or _demons. _

It seems that Kanji and Yosuke have the same idea, too, as the former speaks while helping the latter out, “y’know, I’ve been thinkin’… there ain’t a lotta good manga with like, magical boys, are there?”

“No? I don’t think magical boys are even a thing… unless in parody, maybe?”

“Why don’t you just want some magical girl anime? Like, you can pretend they’re just really girly boys.” Yosuke says.

“Dammit, I’uhno, maybe I shouldn’t want magical boys, really. Magical girls are for, well, girls. S’not easy to get girl superheroes bein’ cool and stuff, I guess.”

Yu smiles sheepishly. “I suppose not? Well, I guess a boy could watch really long shounen series instead. The boys in there are technically magical boys.”

“… you’re not wrong, actually.” Yosuke says, “like, okay, some of them undergo specific transformations, it’s the power of friendship, they save the world? Really, the only thing that’s missing is the colourful outfits.”

Kanji snorts. “Magical girl anime have way better outfit designs; I’ll die on this damn hill!”

“Naw, dude, I believe you.” Yosuke dusts his hands off, takes a step back to survey the tent before getting back to work, “sometimes dude in series just have the boringest designs. Like, c’mon! Use more colours!”

“Ain’t nothin’ to be scared of when it comes to outfit designs. Just run wild!”

“We’re done!” Yu exclaims and Yosuke and Kanji both jump before realising that, oh, they are right; the tent is set up properly and is ready for them when night falls. “I think we should go back to the rest. When is the barbeque going to be at?”

Kanji brings his arm up, checks his watch, squints, and then nods. “Like, an hour and a half.”

“He’s right.” Yosuke says after checking his own watch, “we have an hour and a half to burn. You think they’ll let us go on a walk together?”

Yu shrugs. “I don’t see why not, I’ll go ask Morooka-sensei if we can go on a walk before the barbeque starts.”

“Wanna bring the girls with us?” Kanji asks, “or d’ya think we should just leave them be?”

Yosuke rubs his chin thoughtfully, “I think we should just let the girls hang out and bond. It can be boys bonding time for us! C’mon, let’s go on a walk, and we can talk about whatever hits our fancy.”

Morooka grants them permission to go on a walk, though he does warn them to be back at least ten minutes before the barbeque to which they relay to Yosuke and Kanji. The walk that they take through the mountain paths is nice and relaxing, though they all make sure not to go on the hiking trail because of how much harder it’ll be. Yu does have boots for hiking but it is currently sitting in their tent for late because they are sure that that is one of the planned activities.

They mostly end up talking about this and that, a circular conversation topic that keeps them all engaged, and Yu can’t help but feel happier now that Kanji seems more willing to be excited about the stuff he likes. Even though strange at first, Yosuke is attentive to what Kanji has to say and encourages him to keep talking with filler responses and often says something that shows he is paying attention much to Kanji’s surprise and joy.

It does, however, circle around back to something to do with Kanji’s palace: “who was that boy that we saw in your palace, by the way? He guided us through a maze in there…” Yosuke says, a little uncertain, as though he feels like he shouldn’t be asking this question.

Kanji does stop in place, as does the other two, but he scratches the back of his head before looking between his two seniors and answering, “he was my childhood bestie, the one kid who stood up against the bullies for me when we were both in elementary school, y’know? I miss ‘im, a lot, an’ I’m tryin’ t’get back into being pen pals with ‘im, though through e-mail instead. My ma has his mom’s e-mail, and… and we’re talkin’ again, actually.” he looks away shyly. “… he meant t’world to me when I was little, an’ I also wanted to make ‘im happy. But, he hadda move ‘cause his dad got a job somewhere else, but… he was nice to me, him and his family.”

“Could we get a name, if that’s okay?” Yu says.

“Yeah, s’no problem.” he grins bashfully while scratching his cheek, “his name’s Akira. Prettiest boy, prettier than all the girls… or so I used t’think, but, I bet he’s even prettier now.” Kanji clears his throat, the shy, happy look turning into something a bit embarrassed, “ah, sorry, prob’ly didn’t wanna hear shit like that. I dunno, I just, miss ‘im a lot. I wanna see ‘im again.”

Yu smiles gently and Yosuke just looks to be at a loss for words. “I’m sure you’ll see him again,” Yu says, “it isn’t as though he’s dead, so when you get older and you get a job, maybe you can move to where he’s living and go to university there.”

“… Y’think I got a shot at uni?”

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I? Whenever I explain anything to you, it takes you some time but you get it on the day of. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, okay? Now, come on, I think the barbeque’s going to start soon, right?”

Yu, of course, takes command of the barbeque and grabs the ingredients that they ask Yosuke to buy for them a few hours after they are done swimsuit shopping. Out of instinct they reach up to tie their hair and then flush, bringing their hands quickly down to begin making some actual food for them. They realise, some time later, that there is an odd, makeshift stove that the teachers bring along, so they take the time to not only barbeque some meat and season it properly but to make curry rice, just because they can.

They chop up vegetables, season meats both on and off the barbeque, and then make something with eggs because they can. They end up cooking in excess, allowing the other seniors and juniors who can’t cook to have something to eat too.

The teachers take one bite of their meal and are immediately awed by Yu’s cooking.

“Holy shit, man, this is crazy good!” Kanji says when Yu sets his meal down before him and they try not to beam too much from the praise. “Senpai, ya ever considered bein’ a chef or somethin’? I feel like it’d suit ya.”

They shake their head, “cooking is my hobby, I want to keep it that way.”

“Really?! But that’s such a waste!” Chie whines after swallowing a large mouthful of food, “you’d be killer at it!”

Yukiko is just happy to eat the vegetarian alternative that Yu prepares for her, even though she admits that she is fine with eating meat. “If Yu-kun doesn’t want to cook, then that’s fine. That means more food for us, and we get to praise him even more. Right, Yu-kun?”

“Aha,” they bow their head down to blush, having to put their hands on their cheeks to cover the redness up, “thank you, it makes me happy that you enjoy my food.”

“Of course we would,” Naoto says factually, “you are an exceptional cook. If you ever feel like cooking for officer Uchida and I… we’re often too busy to cook and order takeout more often than not. I would appreciate your company.”

They are pretty sure they are boiling red at this point, a fact that makes Yosuke burst out into laughter and they try to punch him from over the table.

“You’re amazing, partner, even if you blush like a ripe tomato.”

“Shut. UP!”

The rest of the day is spent walking or hiking, with tomorrow the teachers having some exercises planned for them. For now, they just stick to taking walks. One time Yukiko asks one of the mountain rangers to show her around the forest and she comes out looking upset over not having a camera to take a picture of all of the sights.

“Maybe we can come here on our own sometime,” Chie says, “then you can take all the photos you want.”

Yukiko smiles fondly at her. “Maybe.”

Nighttime comes faster than any of them expect and Yu, despite being tired, decides to go sit out by a lake with their clothes for a bit, wanting to wait for everyone to fall asleep before they change. Even if they are simply waiting here to be able to change without being seen or alerting anyone, the view of the lake is really nice and comforting. The wind is cool against their skin and the stars in the mountaintop shimmer against the surface.

It’s nice and calming and gives them a sense of company while they wait.

* * *

Yu hasn’t come back to the tent yet, which leaves Yosuke with a lot of opportunities to think. Kanji stays in their tent tonight, mostly because he admits to being slightly uncomfortable around the other juniors still. He takes sympathy on the poor guy, lets him crawl into their tent and curl up, even if Yosuke doesn’t plan on saying anything to him.

_‘He really is just a scared kid,’_ Yosuke thinks while watching Kanji. Despite his scary appearance and the fact that he is pretty tall, Kanji turns out to be a huge softie. He likes plushies and sewing and animals, likes talking about cute, slice-of-life anime, and likes seeing his friends happy.

Though awkward, Kanji definitely means well. He’s not a punk or anything, just confused – just like every other teenager is. _Confused._

Like how Yosuke is right now.

“Hey,” he says and Kanji looks at him curiously, “can I ask you something about Akira-kun?”

He shifts a little, “uhhh, sure. What ‘bout ‘im?”

“Do you like him?”

“What?”

“Like, do you, like him, like, _romantically._”

Kanji stares at him for a while, as though trying to piece Yosuke together. He looks around then briefly crawls out to peek and see if anyone is watching.

It takes a second for the horrifying implication to settle.

“I’m not gonna make fun of you, I promise.” Yosuke says, “that’d just be really shitty of me, and… I just wanna know, because there’s something else I also wanna ask.”

Kanji is quiet for a moment before he closes the flaps of the tent as best he can, sitting back a little further, and he slouches his shoulders a little. “Yeah,” he says gently, “I like him, and I still kinda do. When we were penpals ‘fore we stopped ‘cause I got sent to juvy, he just became more an’ more amazin’. Yeah… I like him, romantically, a lot an’ I wanna confess to him someday, even if it means he’ll hate me.”

“Would you still like him even if he hated you?”

“Yeah.” he smiles gently, serenely, a look that Yosuke never sees before on Kanji’s face, “he has his own reasons for it. Even if he ended up hatin’ me, a dude, for likin’ another dude… I don’t think I could ever hate ‘im, even if I ain’t gonna be able to forgive him.”

Yosuke shifts a little and crosses his legs. “I don’t think you should be worried about that, I have a feeling he really likes you.”

“Well, I hope he does. Why’re ya askin’, anyway?”

“… how did you know you liked boys?”

Kanji blinks for a moment. He ruffles the back of his hair, squints his eyes and pursing his lips in thought. “I guess… I guess I just did. When I liked Akira-kun, I used t’think, oh, he’s way prettier than all those other girls, and he’s the prettiest of all the boys. I’d see a guy and think he’d be, I guess, hot? Like, attractive. It’s just… ya think about the boy, think about ‘im a lot. S’just fallin’ in love.”

“So it’s no different than falling in love with a girl, huh.” Yosuke shakes his head and rubs his face, “why did I think it was, anyway?”

“S’not like it’s your fault, I don’t blame ya for it.”

Yosuke snorts.

“But, why’re ya askin’? D’ya think ya like a boy?”

Yu’s face immediately comes to mind – his gentle expressions, his rounder face, his soft lips. The way he smiles, his genuine happiness whenever Yosuke does well in something. His shyness, his kindness, the little things he does…

“… Yeah, I think I do.”

“I hope he’s a good guy, then, senpai.” Kanji says, “‘cause in the world we’re in, it ain’t easy fallin’ in love with a boy when you’re one, or a girl if you’re one too. S’worse if y’like both.”

“I think I like both.” he says meekly.

Kanji just looks at him with a gaze full of acceptance and warmth. “Yeah. That’s okay, too.” he rolls his shoulders back, “I think I only like boys, but, then again, I ain’t never fallen in love with another boy nor thought of anyone but Akira.”

“You’re a good guy, Kanji-kun. You’re a really, really good guy.”

“Thanks? I think. Aahhh, I dunno! I’m gonna try an’ go to sleep, okay? G’night, senpai.”

“Night!”

* * *

Yu comes back into the tent just as Yosuke falls asleep, having changed near the lake some time ago. They aren’t aware of what transpires in this tent but, instead, they curl up in their bedroll and simply fall asleep. Their movements briefly wake Yosuke up just in time for him to see Yu roll to face him, eyes closed and face in calm, serene sleep.

He can’t help but think of how beautiful Yu is and does his best to go back to sleep.


	33. Chapter 31

The second day of the camping trip, not a lot happens. Yu doesn’t expect anything, anyway, if they are to be completely fair, but there is something different between Kanji and Yosuke. They don’t really have a finger to put on it, but the simplest way to put it is that they _think _the two of them seem to at least like each other a little better.

Yosuke is still himself, however, and his attitude towards Kanji can only be described as ‘confusing’; not really antagonistic but not very friendly either. Neutral? Whatever it is, Yu doesn’t think too much about it. As long as Yosuke isn’t weird around Kanji, then they don’t care.

(Later, it comes to their mind that Yosuke and Kanji’s relationship can be best described as ‘acquaintances’, two boys brought together by something they have no control over)

The morning has the teachers sending them on exercises; the more athletic students go on jogs that escalate to runs and then straight up sprinting. Everyone else who isn’t as athletic or probably don’t want to exercise that hard go on a plain hike. Much to their surprise, Naoto is the one who pushes them ahead and separates Yu from the rest of the team.

“Is something wrong?” Yu asks and Naoto shakes her head.

“No, no, I just wanted some time for us to be able to converse. Is now a bad time?”

“Ah, no, that’s okay…”

They learn, a little bit into the conversation, that Naoto has a… different? Different understanding of the world. If Yu is to tell her that the sky is blue, she will go on a hunt for any scientific data that will prove that true. If Yu is to tell her that they see a cat in the alleyway, Naoto will chase for it and then calculate when the cat arrives and leaves. If Yu is to ask her for help on research, Naoto will come back with a well-organised compendium to help them out.

For her, for a long time, the world is not absolute without the proof that it is, and thus as long as there is no proof then everyone is in a transient state of ‘existence’ and ‘fiction’.

“It isn’t until everything that happened lately that I realised I was… quite, quite wrong.” Naoto says after a bit of pause, “I had thought that, for as long as we were uncertain on our existence, we should never see ourselves as anything but ‘nonexistent’. Perhaps it was strange of me to think that way, but it made it easier to see myself as a being that does not exist, than a person living in a lie.”

Yu watches her curiously, not really having much to say to that. Naoto smiles up at them and then shakes her head, changing the conversation topic to something simpler and more mundane, more innocuous. Yu asks her if she’s into Kamen Rider, or whatever they are called, and Naoto brightens up and begins talking about the many iterations and forms of Kamen Rider.

They don’t get it.

Some of what she says sounds utterly insane.

Yu smiles at Naoto the same way a sixty-year old grandparent smiles at their grandchild when said child is explaining the internet to them in another language. She notices, chuckles in amusement, but then continues on anyway even if Yu has no clue what the plot is anymore. What is she even saying? Why are there insects involved? And mechs?

By the end, they are no more educated on Kamen Rider than they are when they get here. The rest of the team walk up to see Yu just smiling at Naoto so widely with clear distress while the Detective Prince is standing there, crossing her arms and looking amused at Yu’s predicament.

“What did you do to him?” Kanji asks.

“I explained every single iteration of Kamen Rider to Yu-senpai and made sure he was up to date with every single version of the series that exists.”

“… Yu-kun, do you feel up to date with the series?” Chie asks.

They smile at Chie, then look at everyone else one by one, looking at Naoto with a confused gaze, then stare back up towards the rest of the team.

“I don’t know what’s going on.” Yu says with as much joy as possible before then turning towards where the teachers are and they make their leave.

After the exercise of the morning which stretches out towards noon, the teachers let them know that they have until late afternoon before they have to take the students back. They excuse themselves briefly and ask a teacher permission to call their aunt so that they may inform her of when to pick them up before joining up with Yosuke and the rest.

“… and that’s why I think we should have a swim in the river.” is what they come back to and Yu immediately feels dread fill their bones. They end up buying swim trunks much to Yosuke’s insistence, though they get one with a pattern that will most definitely complement a Hawaiian shirt when they do.

Yukiko puts a hand to her chin, “that doesn’t sound too bad, actually. It’ll be nice to have a swim… and the teachers did say we can do whatever we want.”

“I don’t know if swimming was on the docket.” Yu says when they walk up, hands folding in front of them instinctively and the rest turn their head to look at them. They wave. “Hello.”

“Hey, senpai.” Kanji waves at them, sitting cross-legged with the others on the soft ground. Yu sits next to him, legs crossing as well, and the conversation continues, “I guess it’d be nice t’wear the shit we bought, huh?”

“Don’t let the teachers catch you swearing.” Yukiko says.

Kanji shrugs. Yosuke continues on. “Yeah! It’s not like there’s a swimming pool nearby, and the only other river isn’t really that nice to swim in, unless you like swimming with fishies.”

“It would be nice to swim,” Naoto says, “I hadn’t swum in front of others in a good, long while. This will be a good opportunity for me to get used to the notion again.”

After getting permission from a teacher, they all rush off to the designated areas to change with their bags in tow. Naoto comes back in a one-piece swimsuit, blue as a whole with white and cream-coloured lines. Yukiko wears a frilly two-piece that is a soft yellow colour, and Chie has a less frilly two-piece that is light orange in colour. Yosuke himself wears swim trunks edging on the shorter side, light blue with white lines, and Kanji wears one that flutters near his knees and is a plain black.

And Yu?

Yu wears a Hawaiian shirt with matching swim trunks, with binder of course, and everyone looks at them with a mixture of disgust and disappointment.

The disappointment is mostly from Yosuke.

“I’m not going to swim,” Yu says, “but I still want to get into the spirit of things.”

“I thought you were joking when you said you were gonna buy a Hawaiian shirt,” Yosuke says while rubbing his forehead, “when did you even get it, anyway? It looks kinda old…”

Yu shrugs, “it used to be my uncle’s.” Yosuke flinches and Chie coughs awkwardly. “It was from when he was smaller, but he kept it anyway because of nostalgia. Auntie Chisato was nice enough to give it to me.”

Yosuke looks like he wants to say something but he bites his lower lip and keeps it to himself. Instead, he turns around and leads them all to the river… to which Kanji rushes past him, gets up on the groove elevated above the river, and dives into the water and makes a rather good splash. Yu and Yukiko clap for him.

The rest are a combination of diving and walking into the water, with Yu being the exception who sits up on the groove after everyone is in the river and brings their knees up to their chest. Hugging their legs, they rest their chin onto their knees and watch everyone else enjoying themselves. A smile comes up, hidden behind their knees, and Yu watches as everyone has fun with one another.

Just watching them is enough.

Maybe in another world, where Yu is born a boy and never curious, they can join the rest and swim along with them. Maybe in a few years, where Yu is comfortable with themself, they can just go back to swimming in general.

High-school isn’t the be-all end-all, after all, but Yu still prefers to avoid running into trouble for as long as they can while still stuck in high school.

They finish swimming, splashing each other, and chasing one another after an hour or so and they come up to join Yu on their groove. They are all dripping wet and tired from exertion but they all look happier for it and Yu reaches up towards Yosuke’s wet hair and pinches a strand.

“Looking good, pa- partner.” they say and Yosuke looks at them with surprise then wide-eyed joy. “You all looked pretty great. Let’s go back and dry you guys up?”

Kanji and Naoto lead the way back, the two of them talking to each other about something Yu doesn’t know about. From what they can glean, it seems as though Naoto is telling Kanji about her investigations and her work as the detective prince thus far and he seems to be paying rapt attention. They walk ahead of the other three and lets their mind wander, thinking of this and that. They take in the sights again, enjoy the refreshing air.

It isn’t the dense fog that is currently taking up Inaba, and has been for at least three days, so it is much, much better in comparison.

The others get dry eventually and the teachers round the students up for one last exercise before they hop onto the bus to get back home. By the end of it, Yu is tired and surprised they haven’t passed out on the spot yet. They have to drag themself into the bus and they find that they are sitting next to Naoto this time, not Kanji. She lets Yu rest and turns to the others nearby to talk, the bus erupting into a cacophony of noise as always.

Yu finds that the rumbling of the bus, the bounce and hobble, the noise of everyone talking, and the cool feeling of the bus windows enough to let them drift off into sleep once again.

“Yu-senpai? Yu-senpai! Wake up, you’re okay!” Naoto’s voice claws them out into reality and they jump up, gasp, and nearly slap her in the frenzy of waking up. She grabs at their wrists and presses it against the bus seat, holding them down while they try to calm their frantic breathing. “Yu-senpai, it’s me, it’s me. Calm down.”

“Naoto-san?” they ask after their breathing slowly evens out, their eyes no longer as wide and as frantic as before, “can you… can you let go of my hands?”

She lets go of their hands, though she still peers at Yu. “You must have been having quite the awful nightmare,” she says, frowning as she does, “is everything alright? You were quite heavily distressed. You nearly slapped me when you woke up.”

“Oh!” they blush, embarrassed, and shake their heads, “it’s okay, I’m fine. Let’s go, I can sense Morooka-sensei’s agitation at us taking so long from here.”

They all bid their farewells once they get off of the bus. Everyone else’s parents come to pick them up, except for Naoto who gets picked up by officer Uchida. Auntie Chisato is waiting for them with Nanako asleep in her arms, a smile on her face. Yukiko has to be held back by Chie to keep her from cooing over Nanako when her parents are right there, waiting for her.

“Auntie!” they call out while jogging up to them, “why is Nana-chan here?”

“She wanted to see the best cousin in the world,” Chisato teases, “but she fell asleep on the ride here. She woke up extra early because ‘today is the day bestest cousin ever comes home!’”

“Aw,” Yu smiles, “let’s go home, auntie. I’ll hold Nana-chan in the back.”

They cradle her protectively while she sleeps in their lap, all their anxiety from the nightmare gone now that they have their family with them, and they peer outside. The world outside takes overtaken by a dense fog and Chisato slows down considerably to drive through the dense mist.

It’s nice to (vaguely) see Inaba again, and it feels even nicer to get home and relax.

Yu can’t help but smile as they imagine Nanako’s joy over seeing them again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> business as usual will begin again shortly, with maybe Rise, apocalypse, and maybe I decide to throw my hands up to the wind and write 10 different endings and post them back to back for fun.


	34. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry if this chapter is short and the pacing feels glacial, but I'm trying to prep myself for the endgame of this fic and for the opportunity to finally finish this.
> 
> Two days ago, by the way, was the one year anniversary of this fic.

The first thing they do when they come back is to make sure to sign up for the tournament, as they promise Nanako and Adachi that they will. The tournament is apparently going to go up soon, so they hope that they are able to just get it done and over with and just do as best they can to let those two know that they at least tried. Chisato seems surprised when they tell her their participation but she smiles afterwards and cheers them on for signing up in the first place.

Going back to school, as well, has them feeling extremely tired and sore thanks to the exercises the teachers make them do – though the most of the crew are worse off because they go swimming and come back looking like they are one foot away from the grave. Yu feels sorry for them for all of two seconds before they start laughing hysterically when Yosuke walks like an old man with severe spinal issues.

(Un)surprisingly, Kanji and Naoto are the only ones who are fine. If anything, they just talk about a simple ache that really isn’t as bad as how everyone else feels.

“Of course, I exercise,” Naoto says when Yu brings that up, “if I am to be able to do this profession, I need to be physically fit so that I am not a detriment to myself, if not others. I know how to take down people thrice my weight and twice my height, and exercising helps make that act easier.”

That makes sense.

“Oh, uh,” Kanji says when they ask him, “workin’ out’s fun. I do it ‘cause it’s fun, I guess?”

On the second day, school goes by normally – the teachers are as eccentric as ever, nothing changes in that department, and the lessons fly by smoothly. Everyone in the senior years, including Yu, are completely and utterly stressed with the fact that they have to start studying for their university entrance exams. The two juniors they have with them give them a lot of sympathetic looks and Chie looks like she is accepting the fact that she isn’t going to go to university.

Yukiko, however, still drags her along to study even when Chie laments that “I am a faaaailure, just let me dissolve into the flooooooor.” Yu tries to ignore the stares as Chie is unceremoniously dragged across the floor and unable to stand up because she is, again, _dragged across the floor. _They just smile at her when Chie demands to know why Yu doesn’t save her when they are right there.

“Why should I?” Yu teases and Chie looks to be one second away from murdering them on the spot. If not for Yosuke finally coming up to ask _what the hell is going on _then they are sure that Chie will strangle them then and there for letting her be humiliated like that.

They don’t really need to study, however, and they don’t want to tutor either, so they spend their time pretending that they are paying attention while they drift off into their day dreams and pay attention to everyone but the study group…

“Hey, hey, did I tell you yet?” one girl says from behind Yu and they tilt their head a little. “I watched the Midnight Channel last night!” oh right, there are still people who think the Midnight Channel tells them their soulmate. They close their eyes and focus on the gossip behind them.

“Really?” another voice, B-ko they will call her, says, “I like, just went to bed after how busy I was…”

“Ugh, you were just playing dating games again, weren’t you?!”

“S-shut up!”

A-ko sighs, “well, whatever. I watched the Midnight Channel, and do you know who I saw?”

“Ohhh, was it Yu-senpai?! I heard he’s actually single!” they flinch.

“Shut up, idiot! He’s right there! But no, it wasn’t Yu-senpai. It was actually Rise-chan!”

B-ko gasps, “the idol?” she says, “like, you’d ever get with Rise-chan—”

“Oh, for the love of… First off: she’s a GIRL. Second off: I don’t know! I don’t think I’d ever get with Rise-chan. I think I was being made fun of by the Midnight Channel because of the news with her lately!”

A-ko huffs in agitation and they hear her briefly smack the table she’s at, “Aaaaaahhhh! No one said that the Midnight Channel has a shit sense of humour!”

News with Rise? The girls stop talking about the Midnight Channel after A-ko gets severely annoyed and they instead begin talking about everything else under the sun, things that don’t interest Yu. They look back to the rest, who are chewing themselves up trying to study. They excuse themself after ten more minutes and tell the rest they are going to take the bus ride home.

Chie looks annoyed that they are just ‘escaping’ (her words) from their responsibility but stops when Yu points out that they are the top student in the entire school.

The library is surprisingly loud when they actually pay attention, with people trying to study and explaining things to one another and the librarian isn’t here today – the replacement looks tired and like she doesn’t care. Everyone is busy at this point of time in school, even Kou is busting his off to start studying and try to get into a good university.

He does catch Yu however while he is sitting down in the hallway, notebook on his lap and gaze staring somewhere else. He turns his head, snaps up to a stand, and grins when Yu smiles sheepishly and waves at him.

“Hey! Just the star student I was hoping to see!” Kou says with his Cheshire cat grin, hand catching his notebook that goes flying from his abrupt movement. He drapes an arm around Yu’s shoulders then rests his head atop of theirs, an act that soothes where it normally will make Yu tense. They suppose Kou is just that harmless. “You have no clue how happy I am to see you and have you as an excuse to not study!”

“Kou-kun…”

“Nope! I’m not hearing it! Away! Away we gooooooo~!”

They end up going to the Chinese restaurant again, Kou talking loudly and happily about this and that, distracting Yu from the whole Rise business until they finally part. He gives a smile to Yu that makes them think of a fox spirit before Kou is running off somewhere. At least Kou lets them leave at a time where there is still a bus that will thankfully take them back home.

Chisato and Nanako aren’t home, so they rifle through the bushes nearby until they find the spare key. They hop onto their laptop, key in “Rise news”, and blink when they realise that this “Rise” person is… well, a teen idol. Judging from her age, she will most definitely be in the first year if she is to go to high-school.

According to gossip outlets and a few fan forums, this Rise girl has a large rather meltdown on the news when someone asks her about her future work and what she has planned. A meltdown so bad that the news has to cut abruptly to spare the fact that Rise flies off the handle, yells loudly about, _“I don’t want to think about it! Just – just be happy with what you have! Let me take a break! I can’t do this anymore; I can’t keep performing! I’m so tired! I’m so tired of EVERYTHING!”_

She does another interview where she loudly claims she is _not _going to go back and, instead, is going to live with her aunt and uncle and help them out with their business. She promptly disappears after that. According to the dates, this happens a little less than a week ago but gets found in Inaba soon enough, roughly two days ago. The fact that she appears on the Midnight Channel now only means that she will soon be a victim, even if Yu themself does not watch the channel to see what’s going on.

They call Naoto immediately after they have everything sorted out.

_“Shirogane Naoto speaking.” _a familiar, yet crackly voice says. _“Oh, sorry, Yu-senpai. That was by instinct. How can I help you?”_

They swallow, “did either of you watch the Midnight Channel last night?”

_“I did not, but my partner did.” _they can hear some snippets of a conversation between Naoto and Uchida before she comes back, _“it seems officer Uchida watched Midnight Channel last night and she saw Kujikawa Rise, the idol on it. I suppose you and I have the same belief regarding this, do we not?”_

“Yes, I think she’s going to be kidnapped and I wanted to see if we could maybe actually prevent it this time...”

Naoto lets out a soft grunt. _“Officer Uchida and I are going to go interview and warn her tomorrow – she managed to convince one of the other officers to see if they could track Kujikawa-san down this afternoon and they found the shop her aunt and uncle work at; it’s a tofu shop, the only one in Inaba. I am sure you can find it if you and your friends put the work in.”_

“Hm… you’re going to be absent tomorrow, aren’t you?” Yu says.

_“Yes. I am going to working with the officers to see if we can try and protect Kujikawa-san. Officer Uchida has managed to convince them that the idol is in danger, and that we should be proactive this time. It took the whole day, apparently.”_

“I guess it must be hard knowing the truth of the investigation but not really being able to do anything about it, huh?”

Naoto chuckles. _“Quite. I can more than likely convince the principal to have you come with me, and the rest of the taskforce shouldn’t be able to argue against it. Officer Adachi, especially, will more than likely back you up.”_

Their heart skips a beat.

“Adachi-san? Why him?” they say, trying to keep their voice steady as they do.

Naoto, thankfully, doesn’t notice anything off. _“He seems quite fond of you. He speaks highly of you often, and I do not doubt that he would use Officer Dojima’s death to convince the police to let you help us.”_

“Do you really think he would do that?”

There is a moment of silence from Naoto’s end, a silence that drags on a second too long before she finally, finally speaks up, _“I feel as though officer Adachi cares more about you than he did of Officer Dojima._

_“I need to go now, Yu-senpai. Officer Uchida and I were in the middle of a discussion regarding the case prior to your call.”_

They swallow down their disappointment. “Okay, I’ll hopefully see you soon.”

_“Goodbye, senpai.”_

Yu stares at their phone for a moment, then towards their laptop. Turning both off, they focus on their homework before putting everything away. Chisato and Nanako return home during their time studying, though Yu excuses themself and goes to sleep soon after. Nanako, the sweetheart she is, hopes that they have only good dreams the entire night.

While Yu sleeps, they dream of school and of Kou’s gentle touch. They dream of Yosuke looking forward hopefully and Kanji and Naoto bonding. They dream of Chie and Yukiko living the rest of their lives together.

They dream of Adachi’s crooked smile.


	35. Chapter 33

Naoto keeps to her promise – Adachi drives up to their house, chats with Chisato briefly and smiles fondly at her, before he looks over to Yu and waves them over. “Hey, c’mere.” he says gently, beckoning Yu over, before looking over to Chisato and Nanako, “officer Uchida and Naoto-chan wants Yu-kun to come along with them for this one. We already talked it out with his teachers and principal, he doesn’t have to worry about a single thing.”

He places a hand on Yu’s stiff shoulder and squeezes gently while giving their aunt and cousin a disarming smile.

“Well… I suppose if Yu-kun is fine with it…”

“It’s okay,” Yu says softly, “Naoto-san is my friend, she probably has her own reasons for it.”

They wave goodbye towards the two before Nanako and Chisato are getting ready for school and work and Yu follows behind Adachi, their hands clenching their bag tightly. They dress warmly for today and bring their umbrella with them because of the weather report and Adachi hums the entire time they walk towards the car and take a seat.

Once again, Adachi pats the passenger seat. Yu sits down quietly and without much protest. Adachi is quiet, save for his humming of course, and there isn’t even the tiniest of conversations to be had between the two of them. The silence is suffocating, not hearing what Adachi has to say or think about this is even worse, and they try not to curl up into their seat.

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding onto your investigations, Adachi-san.”

He doesn’t seem to be paying attention at first, which leaves Yu to slump a little bit. They try their best not to frown, their gaze wandering out towards the streets until Adachi comes to a slow stop.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, kid. It isn’t like you’re coming onto a crime scene or something like that; really, you’re just going to a tofu shop and you’re just going to probably stand there bored while we try to interrogate the girl. More likely, you’ll make it easier for us.”

Yu jolts at the first sound of his voice before forcing themself to calm down, looking at the other man curiously while he explains. The car rolls back into action, taking them closer and closer to the potential new victim’s shop. “Why would I make it easier?”

“You’re an attractive guy, kid. It’ll probably make her relax a little more around us when she sees you there, looking as nervous as you always do.”

“I’m not –”

“You’re trembling like a sheep, Yu. I can see it written all over your face. You don’t have to be so nervous, kid, but you got the kind of look that makes people want to comfort you.”

They look down towards their lap, wondering what to say to that. Adachi doesn’t give them a chance to respond. “Just be yourself,” he says, “and don’t do anything stupid – though you and I both know you’re too smart and polite for that, huh?”

“Thank you.” they say in lieu of anything else, not like they can think of anything to actually say to that. Adachi just huffs in laughter and goes back to humming, filling the car with noise again. They both sit in relative silence until Adachi arrives at the business district and comes to a careful park near the curb of the shop. Yu watches Adachi unbuckle his seatbelt first and get off before they follow after, their bag clutched in their hands while they follow behind the other officer.

Naoto and Uchida are already there, Adachi walking up to join them with a jovial ‘hello!’. The three of them clearly look like officers, while Yu just looks like a normal civilian with an obsession with large sweaters.

“Yu-senpai, come on.” Naoto says gently when they lag behind and they jog up towards them just as Uchida is walking up towards the store, knocking the door before taking a step in. The store is empty, though sounds can be heard from the back – a girl’s voice yelling _‘wait! I’m coming!’_

Soon after, a familiar face pokes out with a headband to hold her hair back and looking plain in her work outfit. She startles when she sees the four of them there, especially when Uchida and Adachi flash their badges and Naoto simply has to _exist _for her to be recognised. Her gaze lingers on Yu and they awkwardly smile at her, knowing that they most definitely look out of place among those three.

“Can I help you, officers?” Rise says while she takes her place behind the counter, her shoulders squared and her posture perfectly straight.

Uchida, as cheerful as ever, is the one who starts the questioning, “let me introduce ourselves, first. I’m officer Uchida, this is officer Adachi. This is the young detective prodigy, Shirogane Naoto, and our other companion here is her classmate!”

“Hi,” they say awkwardly, “I’m Narukami Yu. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” they bow before her. Rise just looks confused by their addition, though doesn’t question it. If Naoto wants Yu along, then it is for a reason.

Uchida continues on, “as you most likely know, there have been a string of kidnappings here in Inaba, one of which is a successful murder, one is an attempted murder, and the rests have thankfully just been brief visits to the hospital. The police have reasonable grounds to believe that you might be the next victim.”

Rise looks at Uchida with a blank gaze, as though she doesn’t know how to register that statement. Adachi just scratches the back of his head and gives a dopey, disarming grin and Rise, seeing that look on his face, seems to calm down.

“I… see.” Rise says, a frown on her face, “what does this mean, then, officer?”

“It means we’re gonna try and protect you for as long as we can,” Adachi says, “normally the victims get kidnapped almost immediately after being targeted. At least, a day or so after. At most, an entire week later. We’re going to have to ask you to stay with us during a specified location so that we can try and prevent another kidnapping. If not, then we can try and provide protection around your home and area of work.”

Rise looks down thoughtfully, then once more gazes over to Yu who stares back at her, confused. They are both the same height, which means that Rise doesn’t have to tilt her head in any way to look at them unlike the other three. They eventually break their gaze off of her and instead look at the many displays of tofu available.

The officers, Naoto and Rise all fall into conversation while they seem to be trying to negotiate something – Rise doesn’t seem to want the protection, oddly enough, which leads to the three trying to convince her that she really, _really _needs to take this seriously. Yu shifts on their feet and watches the argument go down until their curiosity eventually wins out.

“Why don’t you want protection?” Yu asks, and their voice causes everyone to stop.

Rise looks over to them then away. “I think you should go with it, for a week at least – maybe the kidnapper will give up on you then.” her eyes pierce through them once again, as though she sees something that Yu doesn’t. They don’t know why she keeps staring at them so intently, given that it constantly has them smiling in a very, very embarrassing way.

The staring contest continues and no one seems to know what is going on.

“Kujikawa-san…?” Uchida says finally, breaking the odd tension of the room. She looks back towards officer Uchida then she finally relaxes and slumps her shoulders, all tension melting away.

“… Okay. But only one week, okay? I don’t want any more protection after that.”

“You need to-”

“No.”

Naoto pinches the bridge of her nose, looking extremely agitated in a way that Yu has never seen her look before.

“We will be coming back soon to make sure that everything is ready then, Kujikawa-san.” Naoto says before she goes off into her warnings towards Rise, all of the things she needs to do while she waits for the police, and advises her to have her aunt and uncle run the shop until she is protected. Uchida says that she will step out and Naoto follows after her once she is done warning the ex-idol.

“Hey, Yu-kun,” Adachi says just as they turn to join the rest, “why don’t you buy some tofu for Chisato-chan? I’m sure she’d love it.”

“She has been talking about tofu lately…” Yu says softly.

Adachi smiles. “Yeah, get her something nice for this entire thing. I’ll wait for you in the car – oh, do you need money?”

“No, thank you. Please wait for me, Adachi-san.”

Rise watches them like a hawk as they go around and pick up the nicest looking tofu they can, walking up to the counter awkwardly while Rise processes the sale.

“I saw you in a dream.”

Yu’s head snaps towards her. “What?”

“I saw you in a dream,” Rise repeats, “and I saw you living in Inaba, looking lonely. I… I don’t know why, but that’s what made me come here. I could’ve lived with my grandmother in the city, but… I wanted to see if you really were here.”

“Oh.” they hastily pay for the tofu once Rise tells them the price and she stuffs it into a plastic bag for them, Yu floundering a little as they think on how to respond. “Will you be coming back to school? It’s a little late now, but…”

Rise shakes her head. “I’ll be home-schooled.” she hands the bag over to Yu, “… hey, whatever happens, will you try to visit me more often? You… you didn’t fanboy over me even once, and it was… it was nice. It’d be nice if you came over more often.”

“I’ll try?” Yu flinches but Rise smiles regardless of their uncertainty. They bid their farewells, sit next to Adachi in the passenger seat again, and drift off into their thoughts.

They wonder if they should keep the fact that they meet up with Rise to themself, though they later get a text message when they’re at home that no, Naoto tells everyone already. They then proceed to fend off numerous questions and screams from their classmates when they come back during lunch break and the rooftop is full of nothing but Yu being interrogated.

Naoto is left alone, and she politely sips a cup of tea that she randomly has while watching Yu get dogpiled.

If they aren’t certain before, they are now: Naoto has a little bit of evil in her.


	36. Chapter 34

Kujikawa Rise is going to be under the protection of the Inaba police for about a week, if Naoto’s word is correct. This leaves Yu with a week to quietly stress out to themself over what will become of her and why this has to happen the moment they go out on a break. The other thing they have to try and figure out is the fact that Rise claims she sees Yu in a dream. None of the others claim to see Yu in a dream, but… but then again, didn’t they all eventually gravitate here anyway?

Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, and Kanji all already live here, Naoto travels here for the case, and Naoya tells Yu in a dream to not go to…

He tells them something. He tells them something extremely important in that first dream – he tells them not to go to Inaba and the terms of the contract.

_“Don’t forget some of the stuff I told you, okay? It’s really important you remember them. You __**cannot**_ _forget.”_

What is it that they cannot forget? Because whatever it is, they already messed up anyway. For now, they can’t focus on what Naoya warns them about – they can only focus on the fact that they still don’t know what it is that Uchida sees on the Midnight Channel.

On the first day, they watch the Midnight Channel to see what Uchida sees – they have to in the end, anyway.

The others still haven’t watched it due to the rather stable weather lately, with the fact that there is just more fog all around. The TV world must be in a state of disarray, though it also leaves them pondering over something else: what is going on with the weather? Some days the rain is unrelenting and merciless, and on some other days it is just endless fog. Growing denser and denser every moment, a lot of people have been complaining about the fog and there are people demanding better conditions for going out.

There are even days where there is no fog nor rain and yet the sun feels painfully cold. Throughout the day, they continue on with school as usual even as their mind is taken up by the odd phenomena occurring in Inaba. If they check in other parts of Japan, then they can mostly definitely see that there is nothing wrong with the other areas.

Why is Inaba the only exception?

Chisato seems to be frustrated with the fog too – her workplace is relatively far away, which means that her driving away is especially dangerous for her. She doesn’t take Nanako with her on drives to the school anymore, though she will still relent and drive the two of them around if either ask. They suppose the lack of rush makes it easier for her to drive more safely.

Their school hours are shorter on the days in which the fog is dense to the point of being blinding. It has something to do with the TV world but they know that they can’t get the answers immediately.

They just have to bide their time.

Nanako is home today, though she tells Yu that Chisato is off on some sort of errand. Yu excuses themself and goes upstairs, busies themself for hours, and then pretends to go to sleep when Chisato comes back…

Though it isn’t that hard to fake when they end up passing out anyway and jolt awake thanks to their phone alarm blaring in their ears thanks to their earbuds. They try not to fall off of the bed before scooting over to finally watch the Midnight Channel, their knees drawing up to their chest while they stare at the TV.

It takes some time before static takes over the screen for but a brief second; Yu takes in a sharp breath and stares at the otherwise black screen reflecting their disheveled appearance, waiting for something to happen.

The TV world appears on the screen as usual and Rise makes her expected appearance. Uchida is right, then – not that they doubt her, but this still is all the confirmation they need to know she is a victim but that doesn’t mean they can just watch it and call it done. They peer at the screen, trying to inspect the shadow.

Shadow Rise sits upon an expensive, fancy looking chair before a small, roundtable. She wears a black dress that covers up her entire body and her hair is flat and limp, as though she hasn’t showered in days. Her cold, lifeless gaze stares ahead at nothing while her bleeding lips press together into a flat line. Her skin reflects a sickly pallor and she looks almost dead where she sits, a walking mannequin with built-in audio equipment to parrot what everyone wants her to say.

She is nothing but a cheap, hollow imitation of Kujikawa Rise. Yu looks away from the rotting scene before them and the TV turns off with a warning crackle. The Shadow says nothing, does nothing besides sit there and stare. There isn’t anyone they can really talk to about what they witness, however – unless they want to run out towards the gas station and see if the attendant is there to field their questions.

They doubt that person will tell them anything.

But this is the first day and Naoto lets them know Rise is safe. Well, they will hope that she is safe on the first day but they simply send her thanks for updating them on Rise’s situation.

They spend time with the gang on the second day, though Naoto has to excuse herself halfway through. They talk about mundane things after Yu briefly explains what Naoto and Uchida are doing. Kanji seems to be holding himself back from swooning over the fact that there is an idol in Inaba, Yukiko talking very excitedly about her as well, though Chie and Yosuke look like they have nothing to say about Rise.

When they ask Yosuke, he admits that doesn’t say anything because he is embarrassed over liking Rise. Chie’s answer is that she genuinely has no clue who Rise is, just like Yu initially – her excuse is that she cares more about sports and more boyish things than stuff like preppy girl idols.

“I still can’t believe she’s gonna fall into the TV world,” Chie says, looking a bit down, “but, officer Uchida is super trustworthy… it’s nice having her on our side, isn’t it? Even if the reveal was very strange…”

Yu doesn’t say anything to that.

They all don’t have anything to do, so they simply hang out as friends until Naoto rejoins them hours later.

On the third day, nothing really changes. Kanji and them hang out together this day, shopping together actually – everyone else is busy doing their own thing and Yosuke helps his father out at the store today. They don’t see Naoto at all after school is done and Yukiko and Chie are hanging out together. They don’t mind hanging out with Kanji, however, especially when he has a lot to say and Yu is more than fine with listening to him.

It helps distract them from what they see on the Midnight Channel the previous night: Shadow Rise is in a different area in the Midnight Channel this time, her gaze empty and cold as she stares at nothing in particular while rain drenches the TV world. It never drenches her, even as she stands as still as a statue in the middle of the TV world’s rain.

Yu doesn’t know why that imagery bothers them so much.

The fourth day comes and nothing really happens. Naoto looks completely agitated on this day, however, and they can’t help but be concerned. When Yu asks her why she’s annoyed, her mood seems to sour even further. She speaks before Yu can hastily apologise, “we are trying to convince Kujikawa-san to leave Inaba for a month or so and live elsewhere, until we feel that she is safe to come back. She has been refusing us constantly and, believe it or not, has been quoting laws against us to try and play us.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you because I asked this… I just have never seen you this upset before.” Yu rubs their hands together, “but, I’m surprised… why is she rejecting the police’s advice?”

Naoto rubs her forehead and her expression calms, her gaze gentle and apologetic when she looks at Yu. “I don’t know, but I am beginning to believe she’s simply waiting for the opportunity for us, the police, to drop our guard so that she may run off.”

“Wait, why would she deliberately put herself in danger?”

She shrugs and the conversation stops there. She tells Yu that she has a headache before leaving to go home. Yu wishes her well.

Yu goes to the tofu shop on the fifth day, with Adachi having to playfully wave them through and convince the other officers they aren’t dangerous. When the other officers on guard, as laymen or actual police walking around, realise that Yu is Ryoutarou’s ‘nephew’ they immediately drop their guard and start to talk nicely to Yu. The police tell them all about Ryoutarou’s adventures, the kind of man he was, and Yu just stands there awkwardly while trying to nod along.

They don’t remember their uncle and he dies less than a year ago. What is it that people expect them to say?

Adachi eventually gets everyone to stop talking, his hands resting on Yu’s back, fingers splaying out and shifting the back of their shirt. They can almost feel the heat of his palm on their back and try to keep their focus on everything but the way Adachi’s fingers feel, the firmness of his push, the way he grasps at Yu’s shoulder and squeezes to get them to move.

Rise is at the counter when they walk up and she brightens up considerably when she sees Yu, her gaze livelier now.

“Heh.” Adachi scoffs before giving Yu an amused smile. They don’t know what’s amusing about all of this but they smile at Adachi.

Something in his face changes. “You look good when you smile, kid.” he says kindly, knuckles rubbing against a sore spot on their back and they swallow loudly. He looks at them for a moment, before letting go of them and waving. Just as he is about to leave, Adachi says, “have a good time with the miss, _partner_,” and closes the shop door.

Their heart skips a beat. Rise, unaware, engages Yu in a conversation that has their mind frantically trying to focus on her.

Nothing else happens on the fifth day.

The next two days go without a hitch though Naoto is still unable to convince Rise to temporarily flee Inaba. She is with them this time, all of them hanging out in Junes with Kanji treating them to food today. Chie makes sure not to buy a lot when Kanji admits, sheepishly, that money is a bit tight for him right now and Yu wants to ask why given that the stuff from the palaces sell _a lot_. They keep it to themself.

It’s not their business.

“So, you can’t convince Risette to leave Inaba, huh…” Yosuke says while smiling sympathetically at Naoto, who just looks tired in turn.

Naoto shakes her head, her arms crossing, “Yu-senpai wasn’t there, but we revisited the tofu shop and it was actually a hassle to have her agree to a week’s worth of protection. For some reason, she seems to abhor the idea of getting any form of protection and we cannot discern why.”

“… do you think she wants to get kidnapped to face her shadow?” Yukiko says, her gaze sharp.

“But how would she even know she had a shadow?” Chie asks. “It isn’t as if that’s an easy thing to realise! Like, how could anyone learn they have one unless they got thrown in?”

Kanji rubs his chin, “okay, okay, this’s gonna sound, like, really wild, okay? But, hear me out. Don’t’cha think she’s maybe hella tired of her life?”

“What?” Yosuke asks, looking dumbfounded.

“Go on.” Yu says, leaning in interested.

“Well, I’m like a huge fan of her so I kept up, but ya coulda tell that she’s been havin’ a shitty time lately.” he shifts a little, careful not to kick Yu next to him as he manoeuvres around. “Every time she gets an interview question ‘bout the stuff she wanna do, she got all weird about it. She used to have more outbursts on interviews, an’ she’d get all skittish on TV. Then, y’have her latest meltdowns…”

There is a moment of silence as Kanji lets everyone come to their conclusion. Someone has to break the silence, however, and it isn’t Yu.

“… I think I understand what you are trying to say.” Naoto stands up, her hands on the cafeteria table. “You’re assuming she wants to see what it feels like to be in danger, to understand whether or not her life until now was worth it.”

Kanji nods.

“Was she really that unhappy with being an idol?” Chie says, her brow furrowing, “wasn’t she a model since she was a kid…? Maybe she didn’t want to do it…”

They can’t speculate, after all. Yu doesn’t have a lot to say about the topic though they do eventually get Naoto to sit back down and continue the conversation. The real question is what they’re going to do and what is going to happen to Rise; the conclusion of the discussion is that there really isn’t much they can do without Naoto to give them the go-ahead.

Shopping comes soon after they finish eating and a part of Yu wonders if they should tell the rest what Rise says to them the first time they meet her. A part of them feels like they shouldn’t do that, that it is something Rise specifically says to them because she trusts them to keep it to themself, but what if what she says to Yu can help explain her behaviour?

It is just as they are leaving Junes to head out towards the business district that a mellow, soft and yet oddly ominous tune begins to play. They feel as though they’ve heard this before but… not like this, not like something so gentle yet so terrifying. Naoto reaches into her pocket, brings her phone out, and the tune comes to an end when she answers.

“Shirogane Nao – _she’s what?!?” _Naoto almost yells and everyone startles before sharing glances. All of them guide Naoto of the public and out towards an empty, dirty riverside. “What do you – what do you mean she’s missing?” Naoto’s face twists into shock while she reaches up to grab her hat, squeezing it to the point that Yu feels a vague phantom pain. “Tell me right now what happened.”

She stands there, her expression never once letting up – though it does eventually morph into that of agitation. “You – you let her trick you!? You let her _trick you! _Who’s leading the search for her?” she takes in a few deep breaths, “officer Adachi? Is officer Uchida not there? She was summoned by the _chief to report her progress? _Okay. This is fine.”

Naoto pinches her nose, her irritation seemingly spiking up. “Keep searching for her, and if you find any –”

“What do you think’s happening?” Chie whispers.

“A lot of serious shit.” Yosuke says.

_‘Aptly put.’ _Yu thinks.

Naoto lifts her hat off of her hair, revealing the messy strands, and she stares down at the ground, her expression now pensive. “What did the letter say? … Okay… okay. And it was only newspaper clippings? Okay… okay, I see. I’ll be on my way, I’m nearby and don’t need transportation. If anything else comes up, call me and make sure to have a report ready for officer Uchida when she is done.”

“Is everything okay?” Yu asks once Naoto hangs up and puts her phone away, her hand running through her hair and ruffling it. “I’m going to take it that Rise-san went missing.”

She smiles sardonically, “yes, it seems she has. The officers were taken up by her cutesy charms and felt sorry for her, and apparently one of them did something to let her escape and run off. But, that wasn’t the only thing. One of the officers, while I was on call, found a letter from what is assumed to be the kidnapper.”

They gasp. The rest of the gang murmur among themselves, curious as to what this can mean. “What did it say?” Yu says.

Naoto hesitates for a second, before sighing and she ruffles her hair again. She sets her hat snugly back onto her head before she finally answers Yu, “it said, ‘you’ll see yourself soon, everyone will see it soon, and you’ll thank me for it.’ We don’t know what it means, but I can tell you right now it must be referring to us. The police will assume it is a strange threat, but that’s all I can say.

“I have to go and be on the scene. I’m sorry everyone, but be safe.”

She sprints off the moment she says that and Yu stands there, all of the voices turning into white noise around them.

Everyone will see it soon.

You’ll see yourself soon.

Everyone will see it soon.

It’s directed at them, the rescuers.

Out of all of them, only Yu hasn’t faced their demons.

Please, don’t let them be next. Please, don’t let everyone see the true reason as to why they flee their previous high-school. Please, please – they wish none of this happened.


	37. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit:** Changed the conversation after the beauty pageant and made it to be more on topic with the issue at hand.

_“What’s wrong with you!” their kouhai screams into their face and Yumi tries, they really do, desperately, to keep themself from trembling in front of the other girl. They clench the front of their uniform, their mouth opening and closing uselessly as the girl looks at her with rage. “How could you – you – you’re disgusting! You’ve been pretending this whole time, haven’t you?! Is that why you’re always the last to change?! Are you a pervert?”_

_Yumi takes a step back, their hands clenching the front of their uniform skirt tightly. “N-no, I- I’m not a – I’m not a pervert… I… I don’t like the way I look…”_

_“Liar! Pervert! Pervert! You’re a pervert! I bet you’ve peeped on both the boys and girls, huh? Because you’re a FREAK!”_

_They tremble and blink back the tears, their gaze blurry as they stare at the floor. “N-no, I – I’ve never looked at – I’ve never looked at someone…”_

_“Wait until everyone else hears about this.”_

“DON’T!” Yu screams as they wake up, their hands covering their face while the sound of rapid footfalls approaching their door.

Chisato and Nanako burst through, their aunt’s eyes wide and scared even with her hair a mess and her clothes skewed. “Yu!” she says, running up to where they are curled up on the bed, and she manages to force their hands off of their face and she gasps when she sees their tearstained face. “Oh, Yu, it’s okay.” she wraps her arms around Yu, holding them close and they can’t help the tears that end up staining her shoulder.

Nanako walks up to them and places a hand on their knee, looking up at them with concern – as much concern as her little self can comprehend. They eventually push themself away from Chisato, even as tears flow freely from their eyes still and they can’t stop hiccupping.

“Please,” Yu says, “please just leave me alone.”

They curl up into themself, their knees hiding their face and their arms wrapping tightly around their legs. Chisato says something to them but they can’t hear her, they can only hear the mocking jabs and the false accusations, the unsympathetic teachers, and the stressed parents flying all the way back to scream at the principal only to get nothing.

She eventually leaves Yu alone with promise that she’s here if they ever need her. Yu can only start crying all over again until they finally fall asleep like that and wake up with aching back and sore limbs. Chisato looks like she wants to say something yet keeps to herself when she sees Yu’s expression. Nanako tugs at their sleeve, looking up at them with big, wide eyes.

“Cousin,” she says, “did you have a really bad nightmare?”

They give her a tired smile, “yes I did, Nana-chan. It’s okay, I’ll be fine…”

“Didn’t cousin tell me that I can talk to mommy if I ever have bad dreams?” Nanako says and pouts, looking just as sad as Yu feels, “why won’t cousin Yu tell me and mommy?”

Yu kneels down, takes Nanako into their arms, and hug her gently as they do. “Because I remembered something I wish I didn’t, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Your nightmare… was a bad memory?” she pushes back against Yu to look into their face, “… will that happen to me too when I grow up?”

“I hope not, Nana-chan,” Yu says, “I really, really hope not.”

* * *

Nanako departs from them hesitantly, though eventually she does sprint off towards her school when she catches sight of her friends waiting for her on the road. They wave towards her, turn around, and startle when they see Yosuke waiting ahead for them. He has his hands in his pockets, eyes closed and head bobbing while he listens to music.

He almost looks cool that way. Smiling, Yu quietly walks up to Yosuke while clasping their hands behind them, bend forward, and peer up towards Yosuke. They bump their elbow against him, prompting him to open his eyes, and he yells and throws his headset up into the air. Yu catches it, nearly tripping to catch his phone as well, and they straighten up.

“You scared the SHIT outta me, partner!” Yosuke says and Yu hands him his headset back, though it takes him a while to part with it – his fingers brush across their hand and they try not to tense up, calming down only when they remember that it’s Yosuke. “Hey!” he cheers up quite quickly and they don’t realise that they are smiling gently at Yosuke when they see his joy.

Instead, they steel themself and reach up to pinch his cheek. “Hey, partner.” Yu says, “wanna walk me to school?”

Yosuke is blushing for some reason when they let go of his cheek, from what they assume to be embarrassment. They shake their head and walk ahead until Yosuke jogs up to catch up to them, which isn’t that hard given that he has much longer legs than Yu does.

What should be an otherwise boring day is turned upside down when Morooka-sensei announces two strange things:

“ALRIGHT, listen up! I’m going to be RETIRING from this school, so don’t you go CHEERING ABOUT IT, I know what you punk kids are like!”

Oh. They blink. They don’t expect to hear that, with a man like Morooka they expect him to go on forever being a teacher until he unceremoniously dies. They hear the happy murmurs of King Moron finally leaving the school, though they all get quieted down when Morooka kicks against the table then at the wall behind him to silence everyone.

“And SECOND UP – near the end of the school year, all you SAD LOTS are going to have that beauty pageant thing! I’m NOT gonna know what’s going to go on with that, so you’re all on your OWN!”

School continues on as normal, though everyone is excited for the beauty pageant that is going to go on. The brief news does rouse their friends’ interest, except for Naoto who is absent today though they text her the announcement anyway, though they do shift back to focusing onto Rise when they go to the roof.

“So, I guess Risette’s in the TV world now, huh? I guess that means the weather’s going to turn rainy soon, now. But… man, the weather’s been awful.” Yosuke says, a frown on his face. “I guess this means that if we take too long, what happened with Kanji-kun’s gonna repeat, isn’t it?”

Kanji shifts a little at the mention of his name. Yu clenches their sleeves, discomfort settling in. “We’re going to have to go either today or tomorrow, and we should go as quickly as possible. If we aren’t careful, Rise-san will die and… she told me something when I first went to her uncle and aunt’s tofu store when I went there with Naoto-san.”

“What?” everyone calls out, their voice forming a cacophony and they flinch. “What do you mean she told you something?” Yosuke asks, leaning closer to Yu but being careful not to lean in too much. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

They clench their pants, taking in a deep, shuddering breath, before they begin to explain their reasoning to the rest: their fear of the invasion of Rise’s privacy. The explanation is brief but they still feel awful for hiding it, though the others are quick to forgive them because of how nervous they are.

“Hey, it’s okay, we’re not mad, just… surprised.” Yukiko pinches her nose, “but… does that mean she came here to see Yu-kun?” she frowns, “does she think that being kidnapped… will let her see Yu-kun?”

They shake their head, “I don’t know. I didn’t talk to her much about that, of course I didn’t. But I don’t think she’s here because she saw me in a dream. I mean – yes, she did see me in a dream, she said she did, but I think she was just curious; maybe it’s just as Kanji-san said.”

“Ya think?” Kanji scratches his chin, “I really dunno if she’s like, the kinda person that’ll chase after a hot dude in her dreams or somethin’, but I think Risette’s strugglin’ a lot. Quittin’ so suddenly like that… man, as a fan, I’m bummed, but I can’t be thinkin’ ‘bout that shit right now!”

Yukiko nods, “I think we should go today, when everyone’s gathered together. I’ll try and get Naoto-kun to come with us.”

“Don’t you want me to get her?” Yu asks, confused.

Yukiko gives a scary smile and Yu proceeds to ignore she didn’t do that and instead goes on to talk about literally anything else that isn’t how their classmate is going to drag Naoto into this.

* * *

When school is done and they are finished with their club, Yu has to fight off Kou’s hug as he tries to convince them to hang out with him. ‘_He really does look like a cat,’_ Yu thinks fondly while awkwardly returning the taller boy’s hug, patting his back as they haven’t done this in a good, long while. He eventually lets Yu go when Yosuke stumbles upon them hugging and ends up manually separating the two, though Kou still promises in the end that he’ll get Yu to hang out with him sometime this week.

They just wave at him, unaware of the confusion on Yosuke’s face.

He doesn’t say anything, however, and instead he tags along with Yu so that he can take them to Junes. He tells them about the fact that the electronics department still doesn’t sell that well, though they can’t really close it because they are still the most reliable form of electronics being sold here. Ordering online is inconvenient and sooner or later someone will cave and buy something from Junes.

“Your family’s business is very aggressive, isn’t it.” Yu says. “Being the easiest form of merchandise must be very interesting.”

Yosuke shrugs. “That’s business. Sometimes, you gotta understand how to use the market to your advantage. If a tiny store ever pops up over here and manages to attract more customers, we’ll probably reduce our prices or change the advertising to remark on our quality products.”

“So it goes.”

“Mhm.”

The two of them spend some time together, Yosuke treating them the entire day even as Yu protests it. It’s still… it’s still nice, the way Yu treats them. It’s nice. He’s being very nice. They take a seat at the cafeteria and talk here and there about this or that, Yosuke complains about his family and goes on length about his woes, playing up the dramatics and being all theatrical.

They smile at him the entire time, happy to just listen. Content to hear about his life.

“… Hey, I heard Yukiko-chan and Chie-chan are gonna sign up for the beauty pageant.” Yosuke says while he rests his chin on the bridge his palms form, “they’re trying to convince Naoto-kun to do it, too, and it’d be cool if we could have Risette be part of it…”

Yu hums. “I think she’s going to be home-schooled,” they say while they tap at the top of their coffee cup, “but, I think her being an idol would just mean she wins by default, doesn’t it? I think it’s nice of those two to want to join the beauty pageant.”

“And it’d be even nicer if Naoto-kun joined too, huh?” Yosuke winks at them and they blink slowly and curiously, “I bet she’d capture everyone’s hearts even further because of how cool she looks!”

“Ah… her tomboy looks…?” Yu asks.

He shakes his head, “no, no, she’s more like – the ice prince! The tsundere ice prince who loves someone with all his – er, her heart and she pretends she doesn’t. I feel like every girl at school’ll fall in love with her if she models the way she is now!”

“Perhaps?” Yu says with a smile, “Kou-kun was actually telling me about the rules of the beauty pageant; it seems he’s going to help with setting it up.”

Yosuke takes a sip of the iced coffee still left behind, “isn’t he part of the basketball club? Why would he be the one helping out?”

“It seems he got roped into it because of his easy personality, and he’s surprisingly capable, you know?” Yu smiles, “I like hanging out with him. He’s so laidback, it makes it easy to…” they don’t mean to trail off, don’t mean to think back to their previous high-school and they just let their gaze lower and away from Yosuke. “Well, nevermind. He told me some of the rules, and apparently there’s a loophole he noticed with the application process.”

Yosuke raises an eyebrow as though wanting to ask what Yu trails off on but he decides against it, thankfully. “Yeah? What ‘bout it?”

“Well, girls can apply easily,” Yu says, “but if boys apply, they have to dress up like girls.”

He snorts. “Yeah, like any boy’s gonna apply—”

“Ah, there you are, Yu-senpai, talking with your partner in crime I see,” a familiar calculating voice says, “shouldn’t we be thinking about the case, first and foremost, and not a beauty pageant? Is Yosuke-senpai really that easy to be taken up by?”

“Well fuck.” Yosuke says.

Yu turns around, witnesses the rest of the gang staring at them. Naoto stands there, smiling hollowly, and Yu shrinks a little.

“We were trying to pass time while we waited for you,” Yu tries, “we weren’t really being serious about it, I think.”

Naoto shakes her head. “Instead of discussing whether or not you can get me into the beauty pageant, we should take the time to instead talk about how we’re going to deal with the issue we have, don’t we? And, Yosuke-senpai, you should be more careful on what you say.”

Yosuke ends up having Kanji and Naoto sitting beside him while Yukiko and Chie sit next to Yu.

Once everyone settles in, Yu begins. “As everyone’s no doubt aware, we don’t exactly know what’s going on with the TV world and the fog. Things have been escalating in strange ways, and after what happened with Kanji-kun, I don’t want to risk it. I’ve been trying our best to get us to train when we can, but we’re going to have to push ourselves even harder.”

Naoto nods approvingly and Yu swallows. “We’re going to have to go into Rise-san’s palace today, no matter what happens, and we can’t hesitate even once. So, I think after everyone’s settled down and gotten something to eat, we should try and go save Rise-san.”

Murmurs of agreement greet them and Yu curls their hands on their lap, Yosuke stating that he already orders enough for all of them and is just waiting for their food to get ready. Yu watches the rest, smiling as they take part in conversations or listen in on everyone else’s lives. They watch Yosuke stand up, stare back towards where he sits, and their heart plummets to their stomach.

Sitting far behind, near the bench surrounding the fake tree and obscured intermittently by the walking shoppers, is Adachi sipping on some coffee. He catches Yu’s gaze, meets it, waves, and gives an odd, wide smile that roots them in place. He brings a finger up to his ear and points at it a few times, almost tapping on it, before he looks away and watches all the other shoppers, coming off as a man waiting for his friend instead of eavesdropping on a bunch of teenagers and very young adults.

They watch him, trying to keep their eyes on him the entire time. More and more shoppers obscure their vision until Adachi disappears behind a large group of them, disappearing just as the group walks away – more than likely leaving and going elsewhere, or maybe hiding someplace else to watch them. They come back down to reality when Yosuke comes back with food, loudly declaring that it’s time to chow down before they get to work.

Adachi comes here often to meet up with his friends and other officers, so it isn’t that surprising that he’ll be here. They’ve seen him here several times already, why are they so surprised? They focus instead on the delicious food that Yosuke buys for them but their heart takes a long, long time to slow down.

* * *

“Sensei!” Teddie cries out as Yu shows up and he runs up to them, jumping up to hug him like a child would. Yu catches them, more than used to it thanks to Nanako sometimes doing that to them, and they hold him close before setting his wobbly, spherical self down onto the ground. “You guys’re here about the new palace right? This time, it’s an actual palace!”

“Mhm,” Yu say and messes his hair up a little, “yes, but you have to take us there quickly. We don’t know when the rain outside is going to let up, so we have to get to the new palace before the new victim dies. Can you take us there, Teddie?”

He salutes Yu, looking adorably serious as he does.

The palace that they get to is... just as dull and as hollow as the Shadow that appears on the Midnight Channel. Teddie leads them towards the entrance, hidden behind curtains of blackened vines and decaying leaves, and urges them all to go in. Yu leads the way inside, having to push their shoulder against the door to the palace to get it to swing open before they a dank, metallic smell greets them and they have to pinch their nose.

“Eurgh, that stinks!” Chie cries out, “it smells so, so weird! Whatever, let’s just get inside before I upchuck all over the floor.” Yu quietly agrees with them before taking a step inside of the palace. Wet, fresh moss greets their hand as they place it on the wall and they immediately yank their hand back, staring down at their palm before looking forward.

A long hallway stretches out indefinitely, dirtied from lack of use and care. They take a slick step inside, the metallic stench giving away to something more organic, rotten. They take a few more steps in and flinch when the sound of static abruptly fills the room with its grating, endless buzzing. They hear a voice – distorted, yet oddly legible – asking questions… but it is not the voice of Kujikawa Rise.

It is the voice of someone asking her a question pertaining to her idol job, invasive –

_“You must have tons of fans every day—”_

_“How young you are! Yet you’re more beautiful than most adults in the industry.”_

_“Have you ever considered taking part in movie roles perhaps? You’ve sung and performed in ads, but nothing else.”_

_“Your body is so slim and you always look so delicate! What’s the secret?”_

Water drips down the walls, the wet slaps of their shoes against the floor echoing along with the static and the voices. They hear Yukiko make a disgusted noise as she tries not to bump against the pulsating, writhing moss upon the walls.

They take a few steps closer. The dark hallway ahead lights up, revealing Shadow Rise with soot-stained fingers and dead, uncaring gaze.

“Risette…?” Yukiko asks, shocked by the look of the Shadow. It turns at the mention of Rise’s idol name, arms hanging limply by their side. It takes a few steps back, then whips around and sprints away from them – demons phase through the walls, reeking of trash and waste and Yu gags, but orders them to fight anyway.

More and more demons writhe out of the walls as they try and follow the Shadow that disappears deeper into the hallway.

Every time they catch up to the Shadow it keeps running away – sometimes it runs into doors, leading them astray only for them to eventually return to the same hallway. Every single time, the Shadow is silent. It looks tired, it looks emaciated. The voices grow in volume, growing more and more demanding –

_“Ugh, look at that girl.”_

_“She probably climbed by sleeping with the producer.”_

_“Do you think so? Wouldn’t she be too young?”_

_“Perhaps her mother gave favours to help her get higher in the ladder!”_

_“Eugh, I hate young girls like that.”_

_“Maybe she’ll grow up to be a whore like her mother.”_

Chie falters, “are these… are these really things these people said to her?” she clenches her fist tightly, anger making itself clear on her face, “she’s only fifteen! She’s been an idol ever since she was ten! TEN! What the fuck is wrong with these people? Why would – why would they say something about her like that?”

“… jealousy can be a harrowing thing.” Yu says softly. “We can’t stop now. We need to figure out what’s going on here.”

And the main issue is that, Yu doesn’t really know how this palace works. Teddie tells them all that he sees nothing but a map that stretches on forever while being unable to see an exit. They can’t figure out where they are exactly – Chie suggests to continue chasing the Shadow, because what else do they have besides chasing it?

_“You’re gaining too much weight, here, we’re going to adjust it…”_

_“This is your schedule for this week – do not be late like last time, understood? It took me a lot to get this deal for you –”_

_“For the fifth time, Kujikawa! Stop looking like that! Put your heart into it! I can’t have you looking so stiff! If you lip-synch, the fans will figure out! And people think you can ever be an actress.”_

The further into the hallway they go, the more the voices increase. The Shadow keeps running from them, turning left, right, or going straight. It always leads them into more danger, taking them farther and farther away from what is their point of origin. The smell grows thicker, denser, to the point of almost forming a mist in the air – everything is damp, uncomfortable.

_“You’re never going to get far with that attitude. Do you understand?”_

_“How many times do we have to tell you to stop giving an attitude! Just use the answers we prepared for you!”_

_“Do you know how many fans are starting to stir up controversies because of your behaviour?!”_

_“Get. OVER. YOURSELF!”_

Everywhere they go leads them to nowhere. Kanji lets out a yell of frustration as he has to turn around and slam a desk into a demon appearing in front of him, his body battered from all of the hits he’s taking. Take-Mikazuchi looks just as haggard. If this keeps up, Yu realises, then they will be out of luck – for as strong as they are, most of the strongest players in this team are all but fragile.

Naoto can’t take many hits and neither can Yu, Yukiko, nor Yosuke. Chie and Kanji can take hits, sure, but even they have a limit and Yosuke and Yukiko have to keep expending energy to try and keep them up. This can’t keep going, they notice – but Teddie isn’t much help.

The Shadow stops, looks behind itself, and stares at Yu before it twists its face and looks forward again. Its bare feet slap wetly against the floor, another door materializes, and they swerve into the right. Yu skids to a halt, the team fight off the demons, but they take a step back. The door oozes black smoke, remaining open and beckoning them ahead.

“… Yu-senpai,” Naoto says evenly, “you’ve surely realised it by now, haven’t you?”

They give a curt nod.

“It’s trying to kill us by wearing us out.” Yu says and the rest flinch. Yosuke looks tired from having to constantly heal Kanji as he tries to make sure none of them get too hurt and even Chie looks a little battered. “We can’t keep following it… but there are no paths besides where the Shadow goes –”

“And the Shadow has not returned to check up on us.” Naoto says, only further confirming Yu’s suspicions.

Chie kicks her foot into the ground, “what does that mean?” she asks.

Yu takes a step back, and another, and another. They turn around and look behind at the wall that stares back at them. By all accounts, that should be a dead-end. They reach out, press their palm against the wall, and ripples form around their hand. They place their other hand on it and push, push, _push _against the wall until loud crackling fills the room. The voices slowly quiet down, the static fades.

Chie and Kanji walk up, joining Yu as they press against the wall. Naoto forces Yukiko and Yosuke to stay behind because of how tired they are, leaving the pushing to Yu and the other two. The wall crumbles, giving way slowly, slowly, then all at once and fades away into dust.

In the middle of an immaculately clean room with black walls sits Rise in a fetal position, the Shadow Rise sitting seiza style next to her. It folds its hands atop its lap, looking the picture perfect of a beautiful woman rotting away. It stares at Rise the entire time, waiting for her to do something, say something. Yu approaches and their footsteps are loud, painfully so, but they stop before Rise.

The Shadow looks up towards Yu.

“Rise-san,” Yu says as they bend over, as though they are bowing, and place their hands upon their knees, “Rise-san, can you… can you look up at me, please?”

She hides further into herself, trying to fade away from sight.

“… Rise-san,” they try again, “do you realise that this girl is you?”

**“How couldn’t she?” **the Shadow says, but it sounds tired, broken down, **“I’ve been her best friend since she was eight years old.”**

Rise sobs. The Shadow continues on. **“I’ve been by her side since she was ten years old. I was the one who would model for her, talk to others for her. But not everything is forever.”**

Yu takes a deep breath, their mind racing with what Shadow Rise is saying. “Then… I don’t understand. Rise-san, are you rejecting your shadow? Or do you acknowledge her as part of you?”

**“How can someone like her refuse me?” **The Shadow says and Rise curls up a little further. The others take slow, careful steps forward. The Shadow flinches with each step as they approach. **“I’m Risette. I’m the one who helped her when no one else would. I’m her best friend.”**

“Rise-san,” Yu says, a little more gently this time, kinder, “please, can you please look at me?”

For a moment, neither Shadow nor Rise move. The Shadow stares at Rise, waiting, patient. Unlike all the other Shadows intent on either aggression or exposure, this one is… silent, observant. A plastic doll that sits by your bed just because you’ve had it for years and can’t throw away.

Water drips outside of the room, forming little puddles in the hallway. The moss whispers, the voices not completely gone. Yu squats before Rise, their own knees in front of them and their arms supporting them on the floor. It takes some time, silence dragging on endlessly, before Rise finally lifts her face up and looks into Yu’s eyes with her own glossy ones.

They smile softly. “Hello, Rise-san.” they sit down in front of her, crossing their legs as they do. “I’m sorry if this seems uncaring, but… can you tell me what your Shadow is talking about? You haven’t rejected her, right?”

She shakes her head, her hands on her knees. “S- she— s-she told me, she told me, w-what I had to do.” Rise trembles before Yu while also startling them at her admission. “She told me,” she repeats, “she told me- b – but, but I can’t do it – I can’t… I can’t do it!” she buries her face into her knees again and Yu reaches out to put a comforting, shaking hand onto her. “I can’t… I can’t do it… I can’t do it…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I won’t judge you for it, but can you please tell me why you won’t accept her, Rise-san? You’ll die here if you don’t.”

Rise is utterly still at that and Yu hums soothingly, “please. I won’t judge you, I promise. Why won’t you accept your Shadow?”

“… because she really is my best friend.” her hoarse voice says, “I had… I had no one. All the other girls… the adults – my mom was busy, my dad… I didn’t… I only had her.” she curls a little further into herself, “I only had her. I don’t want her to go, please, please. I don’t want her to go. Don’t make her go away.”

The Shadow reaches out, a hand resting on Rise’s shoulder. It doesn’t say anything, but her gentle grip on Rise’s shoulder is more than enough to make her calm down.

Yu looks at her for a little while before they reach out to gently tap their knuckles against her head, nudging at her to lift it and look into their eyes once more. They smile all the while, making sure not to overdo it but just enough so that their feelings come through.

“You’re here in Inaba now, Rise-san.” they say, “you don’t have to be alone. I won’t let you be alone and neither will they.”

She looks at them with big eyes shimmering with desperate hope – with the eyes of a little girl abandoned for so long in the industry with nothing more than herself and no one else to rely on. Yu comes to a stand and offers their hand over to Rise, waiting patiently for her to accept. She uncurls from her position, reaches out towards Yu – her hand retreats for a second, the other coming to grab it for one, hesitant second.

The entire time, Yu does not move. Their hand waits for her and they do not say a word.

Rise reaches out one final time and accepts their offer to help her up. She looks at them with her swollen eyes before looking over to the Shadow who stands up with her as well. The two of them face each other – Rise in her shop’s uniform and the Shadow in its dress, both of them looking so far apart from each other that it is easy to see them as separate people from a distance.

**“Uncertainty will never go away,” **the Shadow says, **“there will always be time where you are scared, upset. You must accept these, but you must also know that they won’t go away. You’ll always be scared of something, of someone, of yourself. But you can’t be scared of trying new things.” **it reaches out towards Rise, her palm splayed out as though wanting her to lay her hand on its. **“You can’t be scared of the future.”**

Rise reaches out, places her palm upon the Shadow’s, and takes in a deep, shaky breath. “… I’ll accept you.” she says softly, “you’re… you’re another me, the part of me, that… helped me for so long.” her hands curl and her lower lip wobbles, “… Thank you.”

The Shadow smiles, even as it fades away into white light that absorbs itself into Rise’s soul, before blooming above her to reveal to them all her persona.

A woman with long, black hair floats above Rise, her skin made of the stars and galaxies and her outfit that of a warrior. A plain, white mask appears upon the persona’s face and an empty sword hilt sits in their grasp. As the persona’s fingers curl and tighten around the hilt, ice erupts from the hilt in the form of a blade and she holds it up.

_“I am thou, thou art I. I am the drop from the soul, Himiko – I shall help you aid your allies, bring to them victory. From your heart you acknowledged the transient existence of humankind, and from it I am reborn – even if for a brief moment. With power of the conduit, I shall assist you. Do not lose grip on your strength.”_

After her persona disappears, Rise sways and falls forward and Yu bolts to catch her. They help her stand up, hands on her shoulders holding her steady until she can look into Yu’s eyes and stand on their own.

“… Did you mean it?” Rise says, “did you mean it when you said you won’t let me be alone?”

Yu smiles. “Yes, I meant it. I’ll be your friend, if you want me to be.”

She closes her eyes, lets out a deep breath, then faints in Yu’s arms. Kanji gives her a piggyback ride all the way back outside now that the palace crumbles and reveals the exit. He puts her down when she finally regains consciousness and they help her out the TV, deciding to save a visit to the Velvet Room for another day.

They depart, Naoto going with Rise to escort her to the police station and later return her to her family.

Yu makes a promise to go visit her as soon as they can, and to help make sure everything is fine.


	38. Chapter 36

The news is going crazy over Rise’s disappearance, a fact that Yu is surprised even leaked. When they ask Naoto on the phone she admits to the fact that Rise and her may or may not have been followed by the press but never noticed because of how busy they are. The only good thing is that because Rise stays in the police station overnight the reporters and fans still don’t know where she works and – if Uchida can play her cards right – she can spread the rumour that Rise flees Inaba immediately upon being kidnapped and ends up somewhere else.

“Honestly, after that fiasco, spreading rumours now only for nothing to really happen is going to be so disappointing…” Uchida says when Naoto takes Yu to her. The two of them look at her curiously and she just smiles, “you don’t have to worry about what I said! It’s just stuff from my past that no one but a few people will know about. Shame that you didn’t get to meet them, too! I’m sure they would’ve loved to help you. I wonder what became of him…”

“Of who?” Yu asks.

Uchida looks at the two of them, then peers around.

“It’s not important. He’s probably busy trying to clean his wounds after everything that’s happened – I miss the guy and his weird butterfly mask, but I don’t really. Tell Naoya-kun I said hi when you see him again.”

Despite Naoto’s insistence that they shouldn’t visit Rise they ignore her and go to the tofu shop anyway. A strange part of them wants to knock before stepping in, even though it is just a shop, though they manage to bite the urge back and instead just simply step in. A woman is working at the counter this time – she shares the same red hair as Rise does, though her facial structure is different and she stands taller.

She looks up when she sees Yu and greets them like she will any other customer, though her tune changes when they start stammering about how they are hoping to meet Rise-san because she is their friend – it takes Rise rushing out after hearing their voice for them to be able to meet up with and talk to her.

“You really came to visit me,” Rise says, trying to look cheerful even as exhaustion clearly paints her face, “you weren’t lying, were you?”

Yu shakes their head and bows, hands folding in front of them, “ah, no… no, I wasn’t. Do you mind if we talk in private somewhere, Rise-san?”

“Oh! Right! Sorry. It’s been hard to focus after… yeah…”

She leads them away to where her aunt and uncle are letting her stay – in the far back of the tofu shop is a makeshift room. Apparently, this is originally part of some sort of storage that due to disuse ends up dusty and empty. Rise takes this place as her own, much to her aunt and uncle’s surprise, and she talks at length about all of the effort she goes through to make sure that everything is to her liking.

“Ever since I worked as an idol I lived away from my parents,” Rise says after Yu finishes listening to her enthusiasm about cleaning up a place for her own, “I lived in a dorm provided to us by the agency near the agency. Every time they moved, I would sleep in a hotel nearby… and if that didn’t work they would literally rent me out somewhere discreet and give me a disguise. But that was only other extreme circumstances.”

Yu swallows, “I didn’t know about that… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as ignorant.”

Rise smiles, shakes her head, and looks off into the distance briefly. “Not a lot of people know how lonely it was,” she says gently, quietly, and Yu shifts a little, “and… I really do appreciate you not bringing up my idol background. It’s nice.”

“I don’t mean to offend,” Yu says a little awkwardly, “but I bring it up because I don’t know anything about idols and I’ve never watched or seen anything with you in it.”

She stops. Blinks at Yu slowly… then starts giggling at their response. She places a hand on her mouth and tries not to snort. “Are you always this blunt?” Rise asks, still smiling, “I haven’t run into as many people as honest as you, Yu-kun.”

“Yosuke-san told me I was very blunt during the first few weeks of us meeting,” Yu says a little mechanically, failing to conceal the growing blush on their face, “I don’t know if it was a compliment at a time, and I don’t know if it is now either.”

She crosses her legs and unties her headband, letting her hair fall free and she shifts a little. Bags are heavy under her eyes and her body sags forward a little but she still manages a smile for Yu when she looks up. “I think it was a compliment, from both of us. But I also think you should be careful, Yu-san.”

“Why careful?”

Rise wets her lips, looks around uncertainly and searchingly, before she looks back to Yu. “You were very kind to me that day, Yu-kun. You tried to understand me, you tried to see me for who I was… but in the end, I don’t know who I am. Maybe, over time, I’ll learn…” Yu tilts their head, trying to figure out what that has to do with anything. Rise smiles and keeps going. “You’re a very polite boy, Yu-kun. You’re nice and you’re honest, too.

“You should be careful – even if you don’t trust easily, someone will find a way to make you say something you don’t want to.”

_“You’re… you’re what?”_

_Yumi looks up in surprise, their hands flying up to their traitorous mouth, “I… I didn’t say – I’m – I’m sorry, I was – I was thinking of… something else… I… I don’t know what I said, I’m – I’m tired. I’m very t-tired, I’m sorry…”_

_“You’re a liar. You’re a liar! You’re a liar now, and you’ve always been lying to me and everyone else in this school! What is wrong with you?! Why are you such a freak!?”_

_“N-no, I… I…”_

_“FREAK!”_

“Yu-kun?” they look up and gasp when they see Rise leaning close to them _(way too close, what is wrong with them? Way too close)_ and they throw themself back, their head bumping against the wall behind them. “A-are you okay!?” she rushes to their side, “what’s wrong?! Why are you so freaked out?”

Rise gives them a worried glance, her hands balling at her chest and her eyes wide with worry. Yu thinks, and thinks, but nothing comes to mind as an explanation – why do they freak out? That is almost over a year ago. They need to get over it, move on, and become a normal member of society –

They need to get over themself so that they can play-pretend.

Yu manages a smile soon enough, sits up, and fixes their appearance as best they can. “It’s okay, Rise-san,” Yu says, “I was just startled because I was so deep into my thoughts. But I’ll take what you said into consideration, okay? You’re right, I need to be careful even if nothing’s happened to me yet.”

_You’re a liar_

“Are you sure?” Rise asks nervously, “I – I didn’t mean to say something wrong, I was just trying to be honest and – and this is… this is really new for me, I’m sorry…”

Yu shakes their head and offers a comforting smile. “It’s okay. You didn’t say anything wrong.”

_You’re a liar_

She gives an uncertain smile and fiddles her thumbs together, looking out of element and lacking confidence. “Can… can we hang out a little more? If that’s okay? M- maybe, maybe next time… maybe next time you can bring your friends a long…”

“Most of them are huge fans of yours,” Yu says, “are you sure you can handle that?”

“After what I’ve been through, I can handle anything.”

They smile sadly but hang out with her as per her requests, though they do have to step aside to momentarily phone their friends and let them know that Yu can’t hang out. Yosuke yells about Yu betraying him and they laugh. Yukiko just seems worried for Rise and tells them to send the ex-idol her well wishes. Kanji stutters and then yells goodbye. Naoto is exasperated and Chie is as clueless as ever. They smile down at their phone then turn and look over at Rise who is staring up at them with something almost akin to wonder.

“Those were the people who helped save me, right?” she says, eyes glinting with curiosity and awe. Yu sits down in front of her seiza style and nod, “I could hear some of them – your friends are very energetic, Yu-kun!”

Tapping down on their phone, they open up a new contact page and list Rise down as “Hamuko” and extend their phone over to her, “you have a cellphone, right?” she nods, her eyes glued to Yu’s rather old phone, “do you want to add your number to my contact’s list?”

They can’t help but be calmed by Rise’s excitement over giving them her phone number. After the exchange is well and done, Yu sits down with Rise and gently encourages her to share her interests and she blushes a little bit before coming out and saying something rather unexpected: bugs. She likes bugs and insects, and all those creepy crawlies. She goes into details about things Yu doesn’t understand but does their best to listen to anyway and Rise soon crawls away to show them her collection of toy insects.

There are a lot.

She knows _a lot._

Yu comes out of that feeling a smidge smarter. Her uncle offers to drive them back and they decline at first, though end up persuaded when both aunt and uncle talk about how happy they are that Rise is getting her first ever friend.

“I was scared she was going to be all alone in Inaba,” the aunt – a Hisakawa Tomomi – says, “but… she seems to really like you. Be good to her, okay? She’s not going to be able to go back to school, but… please be kind to her.”

Of course they will, they think to themself. They have a promise to uphold, after all, and Rise deserves better than to be alone. They say their goodbyes after Hisakawa Hideo sends them home – a gruff man with a very kind smile and voice, they learn. Unlike their drives with Adachi, Hideo-san does his best to make sure Yu isn’t uncomfortable or bored. He thanks them for their time then leaves to go back home.

Chisato seems curious as to who it is who drives Yu home and looks at them incredulously, only for her disbelief to fade away when they meekly tell her about the TV world and what happens in it.

“Tamaki told me about that,” she says while cleaning up the dishes and refusing Yu’s help, “I can’t believe this keeps happening… it makes you wonder if humanity is cursed to be tested by the Gods constantly.”

Yu frowns. “Gods?” they prompt.

Chisato slows down a little in her dishwashing before she continues, “yes, Gods. If not Gods, then powerful Godlike beings. The first time she becomes victim at the hand of a man who made a deal with a Godlike being, then that happened with us in high-school… and of course, her time at Sumaru city. It’s always a test, or a ploy for power, by a greater, Godly being.”

Yu looks down at the kitchen counter and begin idly drying the dishes even as Chisato shakes her head playfully. “What would Gods even want with us?” Yu says softly, “is what is happening now a work of a God?”

“Perhaps, Yu-chan.” they try not to droop and Chisato leans forward until she is in their vision. They startle a little. “Please, don’t worry yourself over it, okay? I know that what is happening is scary, but… you’re doing your best, and Tamaki is with you. Your friends are with you. You’re not alone. Don’t ever forget that, okay, Yu?”

They give her a small smile. “Thank you, auntie.”

“It’s no problem, Yu-chan. Now, if you’re so determined to help me out with the dishes, then here are some other chores you can do…”

They spend the rest of their free time doing chores until they are done for the day and then pass out onto their bed. Even if not much happens today they are still glad to check up on Rise… and what Chisato says to them is something of great consideration.

Gods – this is all a test by the Gods, Godlike Beings, or one from either group. This may even be a ploy for power, all things that have happened before – over and over again – and humanity is to simply suffer for it. Yu has a feeling, however, that this is smaller scale than whatever it is that Uchida and Chisato deal with in the past…

They wonder if officer Uchida will them what it was.


	39. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive any formatting errors on this post, this is because I decided to use LibreOffice for this chapter instead of Microsoft Word for genuinely no reason.

Things are hectic the first time Yu formally introduces Rise to everyone else. The first thing they do is that they make sure of is to check with Naoto and Uchida to know what are the limits of Rise being seen in public with their attempts to try and spread rumours that she isn’t here. The second thing to make sure that they all meet up with Rise somewhere that isn’t crowded, that way when one or more of them freakout over actually meeting Risette then it is far away from everyone else and Rise isn’t in danger of being crowded. The third thing is making sure Rise is comfortable meeting up with everyone else.

“Thank you for coming here, everyone,” Yu says while Rise fails to hide behind them, “I was hoping I could introduce you to someone...” they step aside to reveal Rise dressed warmly, her hands folding in front of her while she looks at everyone nervously. Kanji has to bite his own hand to make sure he doesn’t scream upon seeing her and Yosuke coughs repeatedly to hide his own excitement. Yukiko is smiling a little too widely and Chie... is Chie.

Looking over everyone again, Rise takes a deep breath before bowing deeply. “Thank you for saving me! I’m Kujikawa Rise, please help me in the future!” she trembles while bowing, silence dragging on too long, before Yukiko breaks it.

“You don’t have to be so shy!” she exclaims and is the first one to walk over to Rise, a smile on her face while she waits for the other girl to stand up straight. She gives a short bow when Rise finally looks up at her, “I’m Amagi Yukiko, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve always been a fan of yours, but I hope that I’ll get to know the girl behind the idol.”

“A- and I’m Chie! Satonaka Chie!” Chie says while walking up and she puffs her chest up to point at herself with her thumb, “I’m Yukiko’s classmate! I maybe don’t really know who you are actually but it’s nice to meet you!” Yukiko looks between her and Rise and smiles warmly at Chie. “If anyone ever bothers you, let me know and I’ll kick their ass for you!”

Yosuke snorts. “You can’t even kick a wimp’s ass, how’re you gonna protect her?”

“Why, you...! I’ll show you!” she turns around and shakes her fist at Yosuke, “I’ll kick your ass, I’ll kick his ass!” she points at Kanji who just points at himself with a distressed expression on his face, “I’ll kick Yu-kun’s ass! I’ll even kick my own ass!”

He snorts and tries to cover his mouth up and his laughter leads to Chie chasing Yosuke around while he yells about something or another. Yu huffs and smiles at the two before looking over to Rise to make sure she is doing fine. The girl looks to be beaming, enjoying the antics of the two not-siblings that are running around like headless chickens.

Kanji, noticing a pattern, moves a few steps forward, extends his hands out, waits for but a second before he then grabs at both Yosuke’s and Chie’s collars and manages to catch them. He yanks them both towards himself then stomps over to Yu before he unceremoniously dumps the two in front of them.

“I got it handled, senpai, don’t ya worry about anything!” he flexes and puts a hand on his bicep, grinning before he remembers that Rise is also here. Flustering near immediately and blushing lightly, Rise watches as he goes from being a hardheaded punk to bowing respectfully towards her, the look on his face kind and embarrassed. “I- I’m Tatsumi Kanji...”

“Oh! From Tatsumi Textiles?” Rise says. He nods. “I’ve seen my auntie go to your family’s shop once – oh, she mentioned you before actually! She thought you were a big punk until you started talking about all of the textiles...”

He laughs in embarrassment and rubs the back of his head, seemingly happy at being praised. “Heh... thanks, I always try an’ do my best, y’know? But, uh, my ma’s the real star of the show. Um, hopefully you’ll come over next time and I can introduce ya t’my ma."

She smiles. “Hopefully, Kanji-kun.”

“No problem... s- should I call you Rise-chan or Risette?”

“Rise-chan is fine!”

Yosuke stands up, dusts himself, and then walks forward while Chie pouts on the ground. Yukiko squats near her and puts her hands on her knees, smiling at her friend who just crosses her arms and glares at Kanji. Kanji, in turn, just stares at her blankly.

“I’m Hanamura Yosuke, Yu-kun’s partner in crime.” he winks at Rise and she peeks over at Yu, who shrugs helplessly while grinning. “My dad’s the manager of the Junes here and I sometimes help him out with his work, so you’ll probably see me there. I might even recommend him to your shop – he _loves _tofu.”

Rise nods, “I hope that your dad will enjoy ours, if he ever buys some.”

Naoto can’t be here for the introductions due to having some business to do with Uchida, Adachi and the rest of her task force. She briefly Yu that the main issue right now is trying to determine the killer/kidnapper’s methods in a way that can actually be understood by the normal, non-persona users and they are also trying to figure out who it is who lets Rise run off like that.

Despite that, Rise doesn’t seem to mind that one person is missing from their ragtag group of heroes – she already meets Naoto prior to this anyway, though Yu thinks that the two of them meeting normally and outside of police business is better. Yu stands back and simply watches as Rise endears herself to everyone else and tries to make friends with them, her tense posture slowly loosening down and she eventually looks relaxed and truly happy to be there amidst their friends. They look up at the sky, taking in the dense, grey skies, and they cross their arms. Everyone else’s conversations goes in one ear and out the other, turning into background noise while they attempt to piece together what is occurring in Inaba.

What Chisato says sits heavy in their mind for a moment - tests by Gods. Not one, but several. If Demons are real, and per chance Angels, then what is to stop Gods – several of them – from existing. If this is because of Gods, then how are they – persona summoners, devil summoners – able to actually deal with this?

“Yo, senpai?” Kanji calls out and they jump out of their skin, trying not to fall over when they hear his voice and they whip around to look at him. He blinks slowly, taken aback by Yu’s overreaction. “Uhhhh, we were calling out to you for a while. Yosuke-senpai wants to talk to you ‘bout somethin’.”

“It’s about the beauty pageant!” Yosuke says impatiently and Rise perks up in interest. She clasps her hands behind her and bobs back and forth on the heels of her feet, waiting for the rest to continue on with what interests them. The mention of the beauty pageant reminds Yu that they have to take part in some sort of math tournament tomorrow, a fact that their principal and teachers are thankfully aware of but not their friends.

Yu walks over to them, arms uncrossing to instead hang awkwardly by their sides. “The one the school’s throwing? What about it?” Yu asks.

Chie is the one who steps up, her chest puffing out as she says, “we, as in, Yukiko, Naoto-kun and most of all, me! Have signed _you three _up for the beauty pageant.”

“... What?” Yu says.

“Yep!”

“... Do you mean, me, Yosuke-san, and Kanji-san?”

“The very same!”

“_Why._”

“Why not?”

Of course they aren’t going to get anywhere with Chie. They look over towards Yukiko, who smiles oddly. “You must be wondering why it is that you’re being signed up for the beauty pageant, and the answer is simple: in exchange for Naoto-kun joining the pageant, you three had to make up for your nosiness and also join.”

“I wasn’t even there when they talked about that!” Kanji calls out, looking absolutely betrayed.

Yukiko is unswayed. “Well, you didn’t disagree with them either nor reacted when it was brought up...” Yukiko says, “so you’re guilty by association.”

“That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Well, it does now.” Yukiko shakes her head.

Chie giggles. “Don’t argue with her, guys. Once she has her mind set to doing something, she won’t undo it. You boys are all going to take part in the beauty pageant! Ohhh, this is gonna be so funny~”

“But do you also realise that you’re going to have to prepare for the beauty pageant?” Yu asks. Chie stares at them for a moment, then looks at Yukiko who smiles innocuously at her.

Yu then witnesses Chie chase _Yukiko _around this time, though she ends up being slower than before thanks to having already chased Yosuke to the point of exhaustion. She eventually gets captured by Kanji again, as does Yukiko, and he sets them down.

Yosuke sidles up next to Yu and crosses his legs, everyone making a circle and Rise shyly sits between Chie and Kanji, with Yukiko next to Chie.

“Do you think I could come watch your pageant?” Rise says while placing her index on her chin, “It – it would be nice to see what you guys come up with, if you don’t... don’t mind me tagging along, that is?” she smiles a bit unsure, “I’ve never heard of a high-school throwing a beauty pageant though.”

Yu shrugs. Chie is the one who helpfully answers, “it doesn’t really happy that often – from what I’ve known from being here, and from what our old senpais used to say, it apparently has something to do with budget depending on the year? Or student morale? Maybe they thought because of the kidnappings that having the students do something fun would be good for them!”

Kanji grunts, “maybe they should ease up on all the homework and shit instead then...”

“Don’t think about that,” Yukiko says, “you know that’ll never happen.”

“Man, I hate it when people’re right.”

After that, the beauty pageant slips away to instead a different subject – Rise. She sits there mostly like a deer in the headlights, unsure of what to do with genuine interest in her hobbies. When she mentions her love of insects, everyone except for Yukiko flinch at the mention of them. Instead, she leans in and encourages Rise to keep going before joining in – not as an active participant of the conversation but simply to keep her passion going.

They have to leave an hour later, though they reassure the rest that all of them should still hangout and get to know one another better with Rise. They mention to everyone that they will be absent tomorrow and Yosuke makes an odd expression at that. “Good luck on the tournament, senpai.” Kanji says before he splits off – the rest give their wishes to Yu as well.

“Thank you,” Rise says just as Yu is about to trek off towards their auntie’s waiting car, “thank you for your kindness.”

They don’t say anything and bow their head. They remind Chisato of the math tournament tomorrow and she makes an affirming noise.

“I wish you the best tomorrow, Yu-chan.”

They take part in the math tournament the next day after a long hour of driving and Chisato fretting over them to make sure they look nice. Adachi is with them as well in the passenger seat, striking idle conversation with Chisato. Nanako convinces them that she can just walk to school, though they are all surprised instead by Yosuke biking over and offering to take Nanako instead.

It is a welcome help. Yosuke just flushes at Chisato and Yu’s combined thanks before they leave.

“Math’s not my thing, not at all,” Adachi says while he taps his foot on the floor, dressed normally in a plain sweater and jeans with his hands deep into his pockets, “but, still nice of a kid from Inaba to be taking part in this sort of thing.”

Chisato nods in agreement, “most of the students here don’t really like the idea of the tournaments and the parents find that it takes time away from their studying.” she clarifies for Yu, “and it’s only recently that people from Inaba are qualified to join thanks to them relocating the tournament area.”

“I’ll do my best to not disappoint.” Yu promises.

Adachi laughs and ruffles their hair, messing it up before he himself fixes some of their loose strands up. This time, however, something about him seems lighter – he doesn’t push down on Yu’s head nor deliberately mess him up, if anything it reminds them of an old friend before he has to leave because of the bullying (that is Yu’s fault). That old friend will almost always ruffle their hair and mess it up, smiling at them with an expression so gentle that they hope to live up to his kindness someday. Adachi seems almost as gentle as their old friend.

“C’mon, there’s the room that you gotta go to.” Adachi points over to a door where other teenagers are filtering into and Yu swallows, “you’ll do great, kid. Don’t worry about it. If it freaks you out that bad, think of the one person you really like and you’ll do great.”

They blink up at him in surprise, not expecting such sound advice. Adachi snorts in amusement, expression more relaxed than every other time they see him, “what? Just ‘cause I’m a little laid-back in comparison to Uchida-chan doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m saying.”

Yu separates from them soon enough, waits an extremely, boringly long time and then walk out when it’s time. The questions, surprisingly, aren’t that hard – it does get trickier over time and their nerves almost, _almost _gets to them, until Yu closes their eyes and imagines the people whom they care for dearly -

Everyone’s faces from the investigation team bloom in their mind, with a few more – Chisato’s maternal gaze, Nanako’s endless enthusiasm, Uchida’s cheerful nature, and Naoya’s knowing gaze. Despite their odd experiences here, in Inaba, they manage to force those self-defeating thoughts down and instead focus on doing as best they can.

They finish early, wait for the time, and then hand everything over. Chisato and Adachi come pick them up, thankfully finishing on time that they can go back and take Nanako back home the moment they return. Yukiko calls them to let them know that she has the papers they need for their homework and the notes for today’s classes before wishing them a far too gleeful ‘good luck on the beauty pageant!’

Yu wonders if they can get away with running to another town on the day of the beauty pageant while they look at their phone, their notebook open and untouched as they try to study on their own prior to her call. They glance over to their closet door and they clench their phone.

This can be an opportunity for them. An opportunity to be themself for a day under the guise of a beauty pageant with a strange error in their rules.

Life is short and their high-school days are coming to an end. Why not be their true self for a day...? If only, for a day.


	40. Chapter 38

For the next few days, Yu finds themself peacefully studying for the university entrance exams and not really worrying about a lot. Despite the fact that people pop up intermittently on the news in Inaba, due to one reason or another, no one appears on the Midnight Channel and no one gets thrown in. Morooka disappears from school without a word either and a woman named Kashiwagi comes in, looking tired but chipper, and greets everyone while introducing herself.

“My name is Kashiwagi Noriko,” she says with a deep, soothing voice, “and I’ll be replacing Morooka-sensei from now on. Though he left during the weekend, so I’m afraid none of the teachers really saw him before he left.”

In a way, Yu wonders why it is that he just leaves quietly like that. Even though it comes near the end of the year, Morooka-sensei isn’t as bad as they think he is – sure, gruff and absolutely going through strange tangents all the time, but he is nicer than they expect. They hope that whatever he is doing in the future is something he enjoys doing.

Unlike Morooka who constantly veers off topic to rant, Kashiwagi is very good at staying on-topic. She does speak a little slowly at first though picks up the pace when a student asks her to explain faster – one of the bolder ones –  and Kashiwagi-sensei just takes it in stride,  showing a more laidback attitude that Morooka lacks .  In all manners possible, Kashiwagi is a better teacher than Morooka – sure, she sometimes trails off but she always manages to snap back to attention before continuing. They follow behind her for a moment to ask her a question once she is out the door and ready to head towards her next class, mostly to ask what Morooka-sensei is doing. She gives a clueless smile and shakes her head.

“I’m sorry, Narukami-kun was it? I really don’t know,” she says while looking at them helplessly, “it seems that he had a family emergency and that was all. Besides, I don’t think I should indulge more without his permission. Now, if you will excuse me...”

The rest of the day goes as normal – the teachers don’t change like their homeroom does, so everything else is standard. Despite the fact that the math tournament is only less than a week ago, their friends are  _still _ trying to ask them how they feel about how they did. It doesn’t help when Kou is passing by just as one of them mentions the mathematics tournament, which means that he waltzes on by and swings his arm around Yu’s shoulder – as is tradition – and tugs them close.

“You went into a math tourney and didn’t even tell me?” he whines while nuzzling closer to Yu, like a cat scorned, and they snort in amusement. Kanji looks between the two of them, trying to comprehend their relationship, and Yu just shrugs at Yosuke’s bewildered expression. Yukiko and Chie exchange looks while Naoto raises an eyebrow. “I thought I was your _pal, _Yucchi!”

“You are my friend,” Yu says conversationally, “and if it helps, I almost forgot to tell my own friend group too.”

Kou makes a face very similar to a cat taking extreme interest in a topic, to the point that his expression is almost uncanny, and Yu tries not to snicker at his face. If he is ever to be some sort of demon in his next life then Yu can definitely see the catboy appeal on him. “Wait, hey! These’re your friends, right? Introduce me, Yucchi, introduce me!” he says with a mischievous face, his lips curled into a playful grin.

The introductions go by normally – though Yosuke does protest as to Kou identifying him as the dude who separates him from Yu that one time.  Yukiko and Chie don’t really seem to share an interest in speaking to him until Kou mentions a B-grade Wuxia movies and Chie is  _immediately _ paying attention. Naoto and him seem to have some sort of polite, gentlefolk agreement with one another while he  _enjoys _ teasing Yosuke and Kanji when he tags along.

Kou has a hand on Yu the entire time, though his grip is calming and almost grounding – they don’t feel themself losing their calm or trembling when they feel his deceptively strong grip and instead they just act on as normal. Eventually, everyone else grows desensitized to seeing Yu be hugged to near death by a boy much taller than them.

“Oooohhhho! I gotta go, I gotta go!” Kou says and gasps when he checks his watch, “I can’t be here for the rest of school, but go to the club anyway, Yucchi! I’ll know if you didn’t go, Yucchi!”

They huff in amusement and wave him off, “okay, okay, Kou-kun. I’ll come to the club.”

“You call him _Kou-kun?” _Kanji asks the moment Kou bounces off and Yu looks at him curiously. “Y’ain’t callin’ anyone of us that familiarly. What gives, senpai? Ye’re gonna make us jealous, y’know!”

Yu smiles sheepishly. “It isn’t any form of favouritism or anything like that, honest. It’s because he threatened to buy me something spicy every time I called him ‘Kou-san’, so out of safety of my tongue I decided to just call him Kou-kun like he wants and then he gets to call me Yucchi in return. Or, well, he decided on the Yucchi thing on his own... but.” they shrug. “Kou-san is Kou-san, there isn’t really much you can change about him.”

“He’s right,” Yukiko says, “I’ve known Kou-san for a while now – or, know is a strong word to use. We’ve been acquainted with one another a few times. He has a habit of slinking around everywhere, so he’s very difficult to find, but he isn’t a bad guy. He just... is very, very eccentric.”

Yu has to agree on that fact – Kou is a very eccentric guy. At times his logic is esoteric and hard to grasp but it doesn’t take one long to adapt to his mannerisms and the way he acts. If it isn’t for him being so strange at times, making oddball and cornball jokes while being all catlike, Yu is pretty sure they will never become this comfortable with him. They say as much to the rest, making sure to omit the time it takes to understand that Kou means no harm, that he isn’t like their old classmates.

Those ones think he’s a girl – a girl to be won and competed for, a girl who stands by and watches as boys argue with each other and rumours spread about other boys. The way ‘other’ girls will worship them and call them a pure beauty, boys too undeserving of their perfect -

“Yu-senpai, you’re breathing heavily – Is. Everything. Okay?” they look up and realise that they end up lagging behind the rest of the team, Naoto falling in line to look at them critically. “... you’re showing signs of anxiety, Yu-senpai. What happened?”

Are they that obvious? They smile at Naoto and bring up their palm just to give a minuscule wave, “it’s okay. I was thinking of the Shadow World and the tests... nothing’s happened lately and it’s put me on edge. I’m sorry for worrying you, Naoto-san.”

Something in her gaze tells them that Naoto doesn’t believe them but she doesn’t push. She takes a deliberate step forward, then another one, then another one, until Yu is trailing behind her to try and keep up. She doesn’t wait for them to take the step closer, yet Yu makes no attempts at trying to catch up to her and walk side-by-side.

They stand at the far back and everyone walks ahead of them, stopping when they realise how far away Yu is. Even as the group waits for them to come closer, Yu finds themself never able to seal that gap between them.

The group decide to visit Rise once school is done and the topic of the beauty pageant comes up again, the subject redirecting to how all the boys will look in dresses.

“You should let me do Kanji-kun’s makeup!” Rise says with shining bright eyes, “I can make him look like a punk rocker! Ohhh, maybe a femme fatale! I think Kanji-kun would be perfect for the femme fatale role!”

He sighs, “man, why’d’ya choose femme fatale? I ain’t fatale at all, dude.”

“How do you know what a femme fatale is?” Chie asks.

“Whaddaya mean? I watch a shit tonna stuff with femme fatale in ‘em. Why wouldn’t I know whatta femme fatale is? Ya doubtin’ my friend, Chie-senpai!?”

“N-no, wait-”

“Je parle un peu le Francais, Senpai! Je parle!”

“I don’t know what that means!”

Yukiko clears her throat loudly and the two stop their very strange argument. After his own throat clearing, Kanji continues on, “but, no, really, why a femme fatale? I dunno how that fits me.”

“I think she associates femme fatale with rebelliousness against the status quo, Kanji-kun.” Naoto says.

“Yes!” Rise exclaims while clasping both of Naoto’s hands in her own, much to the Detective Prince’s severe embarrassment. “Women who are beautiful, sexy, and who go against all forms of conservatism and will use their own bodies as a weapon... isn’t dyeing your hair the same as using your body to rebel?”

Kanji stares at her. She stares back and lets go of Naoto’s hands. They stare at each other for a little while. It takes a second for Rise to realise her excitement runs ahead of ehr but she still tries to keep eye contact even as she starts furiously sweating. Kanji brings a hand up to his face to hide his expression behind his palm.

“Okay, we’ll do the femme-”

“YES!”

“........ okay.”

Chie clears her throat, “now, despite what it may seem like – I actually know how to put on makeup and accessorize.”

“It’s true.” Yukiko and Yosuke say in unison.

“So!” she says and sits up straight, looking oddly victorious, “I will work on Yosuke-kun’s makeup, and Naoto-kun can help me choose the perfect dress for him! I was thinking that we could make him look a little like the girl next door, the one all boys want to date because she’s nice and approachable and fun-loving!”

Yosuke stares. “Are you complimenting me?”

“Yes, dumbass, be happy about it.”

“Thanks?”

“THANKS.”

“_Thank you!”_

The two of them stare at one another for a moment before Chie and Yosuke scratch the back of their head and neck respectively. “I kinda expected you to protest this a bit more, Yosuke-kun.”

“Not worth it, besides, you could’ve gone for the whole femme fatale look... eurgh. Glad that ain’t me.”

“Shuddup!”

Yukiko crosses her arms, “then that leaves me with-”

“No, that leaves me with myself.” Yu interrupts and everyone looks at them curiously. Perhaps with a hint of confusion and maybe a little disappointment because the rest of them don’t expect Yu to know how to deal with makeup. They just smile politely and fold their hands on their lap as they sit seiza style, “I know what I’m doing. Please don’t worry about me. I hope I impress you when the beauty pageant arrives.”

Despite the odd turn that that takes everyone continues on eventually. They all start talking about outfit ideas, mentioning designs and themes to one another and not caring if they all know what the other is going to do. It isn’t as if any of them are going to sabotage the other, especially not when this is being done for fun.

For Yu, though, this is a chance to relax.

In an odd way, they can’t wait for the day of the beauty pageant to finally arrive.


	41. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing to note is that being transgender in Japan is medically classified as a disorder, and the issues around that are very complex as well as the reasoning as to why it exists. The rules to being allowed to transition and fully identify as transgender in Japan are also very strict. I just wanted to preface this as I did do research for this fic and what it means to be trans in Japan given that it is an entirely different culture there [around the topic of being transgender] vs. the countries I have lived in and the country I am currently in. Thank you for understanding.

“_And you want to transfer your daughter out?” the principal says with a stern face, unflinching in the face of their incensed mother and a father trying his best to comfort them. A hand on his shoulder, one that isn’t a classmate’s – boys or girls, or otherwise – and a gentle soothing rub on their arm. Consistent little hushes of comfort. “Narukami-san, I am aware that you understand why this is difficult to do.” the principal looks over to their father, Naozumi, and he sighs in quiet frustration. “It would be unwise to transfer Yumi-san--”_

“_My child was almost assaulted by their classmates!” Mariko bursts in, her face boiling red with unchecked rage. “And you tell me that you want me to keep my child here still!?”_

_The principal releases quiet exhalation through his nose, looking as tired as Yu feels. “The only thing I can tell you that with the end of the year approaching that no schools will accept you, and if you do not let Yumi-san graduate now then she will have to repeat an entire year.”_

“_Mariko,” Naozumi says gently, “let’s hear him out. Perhaps he has a solution that we haven’t thought of.”_

_Though it takes her a few minutes, their mother eventually regains her composure and takes in deep breaths to keep herself calm. Their eyes stay rooted to the floor, their hands clenching their school skirt tightly – dirty with mud, their stockings torn on one knee thanks to the throw of a sharp rock. A band-aid sits innocuously on their knee._

“_There is a doctor I know who deals with this sort of issue… the, transgender disorder.” Yumi flinches. “He is also not the most moral of men I know as he will willingly forge documents to help people like your daughter.” he gestures at them dismissively, “the group your daughter associates herself with… surely you are aware that they aren’t recognised by the government. Your best bet is to have Yumi-san to pretend to be a boy, given that she was already facing sexual harassment, were you not?”_

_They flinch even further when their mother whips her head around and looks at Yumi with wide-eyed shock. “Sexual... sexual harassment?” she says gravely, her voice trembling a little near the end. “My... my child was – was being sexually...”_

“_Mariko...”_

“_... I do not claim to understand the struggles that people with the transgender disorder undergo, especially when they are of a legally unrecognised group such as your daughter’s. However, I will not turn a blind-eye to a person in need. I will have the teachers create tests specifically for your daughter so that she can pass this year and go on to the next, but I advise you not to speak of anyone else about this._

“_Who knows what rumours shall haunt Yumi-san should you do so... and what may happen to the teachers and I as well for allowing such a thing.”_

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggghhh!” goes Yosuke for perhaps the tenth time this hour and Yu tries to stifle an amused smile. “Maaan, I don’t wanna study for any of this! And we have a crap ton of homework after this too! End my miserable life already!”

Yu shakes their head. “I’m sorry, but if I’m going to study this then you have to as well.” they say while gently thwapping him on his head with their notebook. “Come on, help me memorise this so I can do well on the test.”

“Dude,” Yosuke groans, “you’re a genius. You don’t need to study. I bet if you went to that test centre that your super-mega-brain already has all the answers ready.”

They snort. “Yosuke-kun, that’s not how intelligence works.”

“Well, it _should._”

“Would it be that life were easy that way.” Yu muses, “but, come on, we have free time now and we should be studying this.”

Yosuke responds with stretching and groaning. They sit at the far end of the cafe they are in so thankfully no one gets smacked by Yosuke’s hand as he stretches. “It’s been really quiet lately, huh.” he muses after a certain amount of silence, arms crossing on the booth table and he bounces his legs. Yu looks over at him when he nudges their leg with his foot. “Whaddaya think’s going on? You think the guy gave up?”

Yu licks their upper teeth and purse their lips, trying to think of an answer that doesn’t sound too defeatist. “I don’t know.” they end on finally, “but the guy’s had many instances where he could target someone... but he didn’t. I don’t think we’re done yet – the fog’s still growing worse everyday.”

“Don’t even remind me,” Yosuke says with a frown, “it’s making me feel restless. I keep watching the news and everything keeps making me nervous. Makes me wonder if part of us messed up somewhere, or if we did something wrong. Maybe... maybe the – the first incident... meant that we messed up from the very beginning.”

The death of Yamano Mayumi is what he means, they assume. “I don’t think so.” Yu says gently, “if it did, then I think Naoya-kun would’ve told us.”

“I don’t trust that guy at all, though. He’s so... weird, and creepy, and he’s always in that damn Velvet Room of his.” Yosuke says with a shake of his head and chin resting on the heel of his palm. His fingers splay out across his cheek and, for a moment, Yu thinks he looks like a prince. They keep that thought to themself, just like whenever they think Naoto really does live up to her princely namesake.

“I don’t think he’s a bad person.” Yu says, “I really don’t. I just think he’s bound by laws that we don’t get.” Yosuke shrugs, so Yu keeps going. “But, I really do think that he wants us to succeed in whatever we’re doing... but, still, it makes me wonder if we missed anything... or if there was something out of the usual that we just never thought to look at.”

Yosuke sits up abruptly, a soft ‘oh!’ escaping his lips as his expression lightens up. “That remains me! You remember the politician?”

“... which poli – do you mean Namatame Taro?” they frown. “Didn’t Kanji-san say that he apparently got kicked out of the running, or something like that?”

“Yep! And he’s right – I mean, a quick search online can tell you that, but y’know what it won’t tell you? His _work._”

“Huh.”

“I mean, obviously, no one’s keeping tabs on a cheater anymore, but dude! I saw him the other day!”

Yu furrows their brow. “You did?”

“Yep! Absolutely!” Yosuke grins, “he was a delivery guy! My dad needed to order something for himself and YYY and XXX were charging an insane shipping price for them so he went with ZZZ, and the delivery guy was none other than Namatame Taro! Crazy how small the world is, huh?”

Something about that information sticks to them. Yosuke keeps talking and Yu ends up unable to focus on him --

Namatame Taro does deliveries for ZZZ company. Why does that rub them the wrong way? They feel like there is something that they need to recall but, as Yosuke ends up calling Yu out for not paying attention and sweeps them away again, they end up unable to figure out what it is about that information that bothers them the rest of the day.

The cafe ends up closing extremely early when the news on the wall-mounted TV points out the fact that there is a high probability the fog will just get worse. Yosuke walks them outside but then separates from them soon enough and Yu is standing there, staring at the vast sky drowning in stifling grey.

Junes, much to their surprise, is still open at this time and seem to have taken precautions to make sure they are still visible in the fog. They stare at nothing in particular while they take the elevator towards the electronics department, glance briefly at themself in the black reflection of a TV screen, and then stop before the TV that almost always takes them towards where Teddie dutifully waits for them.

Clenching the bag strap on their shoulder, they eventually take the leap and push themself into the TV. 

Inside, a heavy rain pours. It rolls off of their outfit and form puddles around their dry feet. Their vision blurs thanks to the rushing water droplets and they reach their hand out, catching out a sizable handful of water before they let it pour onto the ever yellow floor. 

“Sensei?” a boyish, familiar voice calls out and they turn towards the curious, soaked Teddie. “What’re you doing here? And alone, too!? Doesn’t sensei wanna train the others...? There’re no new palaces, which I think is a great thing, isn’t it!?”

“Yes, I suppose it is.” Yu says while they walk over to where Teddie stands. Halos form around each step they take while the rain continues to pour on, drenching Teddie further while ignoring Yu entirely. “Is it okay if I stay here a while?”

Teddie pumps his paw up into the air, a smiling spreading on his sunken, wet face. “Of course, sensei! I always welcome it whenever you’re here!” he says.

“I see.” they smile. “Thank you, Teddie. You’re always very, very kind.” they take a seat next to him and he sits down as well, taking Yu’s bag to hug to his chest when they want to put it away. They look down at the floor, staring at the many puddles that surround them. “... the rain here is getting worse, isn’t it?”

Teddie looks around then stares up towards the cloudless, empty ceiling. “Yeah... it’s been drivin’ a lot of the demons nuts. There’re a ton of fights going on all the time, but I’m EXTREMELY good at hiding, so I never get involved in them!”

Yu nods. “The fog is getting worse in our world too.” Yu says softly, “I guess this world really is bleeding out into the human world, and ours into yours.”

He wiggles his feet and holds onto Yu’s bag while he sits ruminating over their words. “Yeah, yeah it is – I wish it didn’t make everyone else so crazy... but – but if that means the fog’s increasing out there, then it’ll be safer for the demons to come out, won’t it?”

“Do you think it’s a good idea?” Yu asks, “how is humanity going to deal with the humans?”

He blinks. “Hey... Sensei, I’ve been thinking... I haven’t seen that frizzy haired girl with you. And that one lady wit h the gun – she didn’t have a palace but she could summon something like you guys... isn’t... isn’t everyone like you guys?”

They smile a little bitterly. “No, humans don’t even know you exist. They don’t even know that this is happening. They think that this is the act of a normal person with normal methods, and not a maniac throwing people into the demon world.”

“... I... I didn’t know, sensei, I’m so -”

“It’s okay,” Yu interrupts immediately, “you don’t have to apologise.” they look off into the blurry distance, jolting when they swear they almost see someone there. A blink, and the shadowy silhouette is gone. They quickly bring their attention back to Teddie. “How long have you been thinking about this, Teddie?”

He hugs their bag nervously. “Ever since... ever since I first brought it up to you, I – I realised later sensei seemed scared. I didn’t get it, because I’m not that smart! But I kept – kept thinking and thinking... I thought every human could do the amazing things you did, sensei. But then – what if they don’t? I – I mean, palaces exist, but I only learned about it from this really, really hurt dude with a butterfly mask...”

Didn’t officer Uchida mention a man with a butterfly mask...?

“Do you know where he is now?”

Teddie shakes his head. “Sorry, sensei, but I dunno. When I saw him, he put a hand on my head, told me I had a biiiiiig part to play  and told me all about the palaces , then... then he turned into blue stuff and faded away.” he says sadly, which is easily fixed by Yu ruffling his little tuft of hair. He looks up at Yu hopefully and they return by giving him the one thing he does not expect:

They hug him and he tenses up at first, before throwing himself into it and hugging Yu tightly. Not a single spot of water stains their clothes and they end up staying with Teddie a little longer after that. They leave soon, promising Teddie that they’ll be safe, and he sends them off with a grin and a wave. Taking the bus back home isn’t an option and Yu almost considers just walking all the way back but Adachi surprises them instead by driving by and stopping when he sees them loitering on the streets next to Junes.

He takes them home without much preamble, Yu sitting passenger seat and always, though this time they manage to ask Adachi a few things about him. The one takeaway they have is this:

Adachi has been Chisato’s friend since moving to Inaba and living with Ryoutarou, and he’s known the two of them since forever. “I’m sorry for being uncle Ryoutarou up.” Yu says while Adachi is slowly rolling up to their home, “I just... don’t know a lot about you, Adachi-san...”

“That’s ‘cause I’m an adult with a scary dangerous job, kid,” Adachi jokes, his smile crooked but not malicious. They think they get him a little bit now – he just smiles weird. That doesn’t make being near him any less uncomfortable. “S’not like I’m your classmate, and we don’t really see each other that often. Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

Yu clenches their bag and takes in a deep breath, trying to think of how to word their thoughts into something comprehensible. “I... still would like to be Adachi-san’s friend.” they flinch saying that and Adachi hums curiously, not saying anything to interrupt Yu’s struggle. “Auntie Chisato likes you a lot, uncle Ryoutarou probably liked you a lot too, and... I wanted to be friends with you because of that.”

He ruffles their head, fingers lingering a moment too long before he slowly retracts his hand. “You’re a strange one, Yu.” he says and taps his fingers on the steering wheel when he parks by the sidewalk, “ you really, really are. You’re too earnest for your own good, a bad guy can easily take advantage of that.” they swallow, their tongue feeling painfully dry. “A’right, I won’t do anything to discourage ya, but I won’t encourage it either.”

They look up at him in surprise and he rolls his eyes. “C’mon, kid, go home. Chisato-chan’s probably waiting for you.”

“Uh,” they flounder for a moment, “there’s a beauty pageant my school’s throwing--” Adachi raises an eyebrow, “-- and my friends – my, my female friends – are the ones who signed me and my other male friends up. I think it’s open to both people in and out of the school, but I don’t know if a lot of people outside are interested and... I was wondering if you wanted to see it? Auntie Chisato is going to be there.”

Adachi shrugs. “Sure, kid. Now, c’mon, go home already – I wanna go unwind at my own home too, y’know.”

“S-sorry.”

When Adachi drives away and they are finally alone, Yu ends up falling into a squat while clenching at their hair and their heart slams harshly against their ribcage.

‘_Why did I tell him that?’ _they think, _‘why? Why does he need to know? Why did I ask? Why did I say any of that? Why did I say any of that? Why? Why? Why? Why?’_

They eventually get up and go home, trying not to beat themself up for giving Adachi stupid, useless, silly information, trying not to berate themself for wanting to be his friend. They are simply unnecessarily bothering him and maybe Adachi is just tolerating them because they are Chisato’s ‘nephew’. They need to focus on something else and not think about how much of an idiot they are.

Yu immediately makes their way up to their room once greeting Nanako and Chisato. They nearly tear the door of their frail closet up and pick up their box of old clothes, sifting through them in hopes that they find the specific one they are looking for. Their worries and anger at themself fades away when they gently caress the fancy dress their parents pick up for them.

This is a dearest, cherished gift that they can finally wear again after the first time they put it on and it is, thankfully, not ruined by the packing and folding.

A gift from the two most important people in the entire world will hopefully ‘wow’ everyone else next week at the pageant.


	42. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first wrote this chapter, I ended up having a software crash that resulted in an unrecoverable chapter. Even though I had only written 1500 words, I was so dejected that I lost my spirit for writing this chapter. If this seems halfhearted, that's why, and I'm sorry.

“_You’re going to love my little sister,” Mariko says while she drives Yumi – no, Yu now – towards the train station, their father already flown out for his work even after he wishes to stay behind to give them one last hug, “she’s great, honestly. She has a sweet little girl too, Nanako! Be good to them both, okay, sweetheart?”_

_They look over at her briefly, glancing at the woman who tries her hardest to keep her gaze on the road even as she worries – dearly – for their child. Sitting next to them, with tense posture and trembling fingers, is their kind, loving mother – a gentle mother in spite of her odd temper, the wonderful mother who cries for them where they cannot. The mother who blames herself for Yu’s predicament, for things they panic over later and _ _only_ _ accept now._

“_Take Inaba as a chance to try again,” Mariko says __as they get closer and closer to the train station__ – this one is out of the way, the trip too long for a simple bus ride, and she wishes to be with Yu in the car, just to be near them, “you can make new, better friends if you want to, or you can decide not to make any. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”_

“Are you sure you don’t want my help?” Yukiko asks for the umpteenth time today, her gaze flitting over to the bag Yu holds with them, and they just smile at her politely.

“It’s fine, Yukiko-san, I’ll be okay.” they reassure her again, not knowing how many more times they are going to have to play this farce with her even if they know she means well. There is a weird amount of expectations that being a ‘boy’ holds that they have to get used to, if they ever will, that is. They grip the plastic bag a little too tightly and raises it up, even as Yukiko cannot see the dress inside nor their old makeup kit (well-used and well-loved). “I know what I’m doing, so please trust me in this.”

Yukiko huffs, looking agitated in a way they don’t normally see her look, “I know I must be annoying with this, it just... it doesn’t feel right that you’re the only one who doesn’t have someone helping him when the other two have at least one person helping them out.”

“I really will be fine,” they say, not even letting her last sentence rest when they speak, “and I’ll do fine on my own as well. This isn’t a life or death situation, Yukiko-san. I’m simply going to be putting some makeup and a dress on.” they shake their head, “speaking of, is Rina-san here today?” they say.

It takes Yukiko a few moments before she finally register who Yu is talking about, “oh, no, she’s not here – she’s probably with her family right now and passing the time until she’s able to come here – she said she’s gonna arrive to the pageant ten minutes early so that she can watch us perform.” Yukiko says and Yu nods. “You know... this year’s pageant is going to be very interesting, don’t you think?”

“Why do you say that?”

Yukiko clasps her hands in front of herself and grins. “Well... this is the first time in a long time... maybe the first time ever that boys have signed up for the pageant. I had no clue a loophole like this existed! Kou-san must be a very smart and perceptive boy...”

‘_Or a mischievous fox pretending to be human...’ _Yu thinks. “I suppose that is going to be a very interesting and perhaps strange turn of events. Not a lot of boys have the courage to wear dresses.”

She nods in agreement, “I hope that next year a few more boys will sign up for the pageant this time, so make sure to have a lot of fun, okay? I don’t want people to be discouraged from the beauty pageant next year.”

“Haha.”

Instead of lingering on the topic of the beauty pageant, Yu is quick to steer them towards the topic of something else: what they want to do in the future. Much to their surprise, Yukiko admits that she wants to be an interior designer and that is what she is going to try to go for when she goes to university. “I used to help the workers at the inn with decoration back home, and I also used to draw a lot – so that meant I would redesign the inn over and over and over again in my own mind but never did anything else besides that.”

When the topic falls onto Yu, they admit that they have no clue what they want in the future. Yukiko suggests a doctor due to how diligent and kind Yu is and they just nod along politely while smiling. Her input doesn’t help any but they will quietly tuck it away just for consideration. They chat for a little while longer before Yukiko and Yu decide to separate, with the former saying that she is going to go to the club-room where the girls are supposed to change and wait at.

“Chie and Naoto-kun are right now at the boy’s club room so that they can help Kanji-kun and Yosuke-kun prepare, so don’t be surprised when you see them.” Yukiko tells them and Yu hums.

“I won’t.”

They say that yet when they open the door to the club room they still find themself surprised when their eyes are assaulted with the vision of Chie trying to force a whining Yosuke into wearing his corset properly.

“Stop. WIGGLING!” she yells and Yosuke responds by trying to struggle out harder, though Chie ends up being more physically capable than him and she holds him in place easily. “Dude! You are way, way too broad to make that dress look nice, so shut up and just wear the corset already! Kanji-kun did it, and he’s wider than you!”

Yosuke gargles, “it still hurts, damn it!”

“Maybe if you had an itty, bitty waist like Yu-kun, this wouldn’t be a PROBLEM!”

Yu clears their throat, grabbing everyone’s attention, and Chie and Yosuke freeze up like deer in the headlights. “Um.” is the only thing Yu can say and Naoto snickers, Kanji trying to hold his own laughter back at well. Chie and Yosuke just stay frozen there and Yu decides that ignoring them is the best course of action. They turn away from those two, look around, then grab one of the chairs and drag it out so that they can sit back and watch everyone else work.

Naoto has a shaky hand when it comes to applying the makeup, yet she is careful and precise with it, making sure not to mess or smudge anything on Kanji’s face while he sits there patiently. He seems to mostly prepared by now – he wears the dress that Rise buys for him, the surprising Marilyn Monroe-like dress that she finds for him and declares is ‘the one’ for Kanji.

It isn’t as though it is ugly – it is an elegant, sleeveless white dress that stops at Kanji’s knees. It is a very puffy dress – full of fluff, but quite elegant with how it gathers and bunches up around him. He wears short, white high-heels and nothing else, his bare legs on display. They briefly wonder whether or not he shaves his legs but are also quick to remind themself that that is none of their business. A shoulder-length wig the colour of his dyed hair sits on his head, framing his face quite nicely.

He looks very nice already, they think, and Naoto is doing a good job with is makeup despite not being all that used to it. They look back to Yosuke and Chie and see that she finally gets him to put the corset on properly. She grabs a pair of high heels, higher than Kanji’s, and a sundress and throws it at Yosuke to wear. He ducks behind the divider in the room to change, grumbling all the while as he does.

Chie wipes her hands on themselves and smiles triumphantly, “finally got the idiot to dress up properly.” she turns around to look at Yu, seeing them sit there with their plastic bag folded neatly on their lap and she tilts her head and places her hands on her hips. “Aren’t you gonna get changed? I can help you with your makeup after I do Yosuke-kun’s too, if you want.”

They shake their head. “No, I’m fine. I’ll wait a little later to put my clothes on. Please don’t worry about me, please make sure you have time to prepare for yourself.” she looks at them curiously but leaves them alone soon after to go and put Yosuke’s makeup on. They glance down at their lap and close their eyes, trying to daydream just a little bit and then they sit up abruptly when they hear Chie loudly declare that she is done.

Lifting their head up, they take both the boys’ appearances in – Naoto goes for something a little simpler, trying to soften Kanji’s looks, despite his resting bitch face still unable to be fixed (despite that being Kanji’s charm, really) and he does look good like that. Yosuke, himself, is wearing a long-haired wig that rests on their back, shorter than Yu’s old hairstyle but still quite nice, and the white sundress he wears is adorned with sunflowers as it flows down towards his knees. The heels he wears are higher than Kanji’s but not too much to be ridiculous for him.

Naoto and Chie both bid their farewells, saying that the two of them have to go get prepared and the moment the two leave is the exact moment that Yosuke buries his face in his palms and starts groaning.

“I cannot believe I’m doing this.” he says, his voice muffled, and Kanji gives him a sympathetic pat on the back.

Yu stifles a giggle. “I think you look very cute, Yosuke-san.” Yu says and he burrows his face further into his palms to try and hide his embarrassed flush. Yu smiles widely at him, having to hold back the urge to tease him further for his behaviour. Instead of doing that, they do their best to goad a conversation out of Kanji and Yosuke both when the two of them stand up to start walking around, trying to get used to the height discrepancy thanks to the new heels the two are sporting.

Their conversation goes on for a good long while, at least half an hour, until the president of the drama club knocks on the club room door and peeks her head in, peering at the two walking around and at Yu sitting on the chair. “You guys got fifteen minutes before the pageant starts!” she says before she closes the door and leaves the three of them to it.

“We’re gonna go ahead and wait at the ‘stage’, then.” Yosuke says, his hands on his hips as he says that, “we’ll see you there, partner?”

“Of course. Good luck, Yosuke-san, Kanji-san.”

“Ya too, senpai! Knock ‘em dead!”

With the two gone, Yu stands up, takes out the dress their parents bought for them some time ago, and finally undresses, taking their school uniform off and they stop to stare at the tall mirror provided by the drama club. They stare at their own body in the mirror – lithe and slender, small yet with hints of muscle thanks to the many dance classes they take. Their plain white briefs, the featureless binder.

‘_You are you, and no one else.’ _Yu says to themself before they look over to the dress they have laid out on one of the desks – they slip their white stockings on first, the dress coming soon after and their high heels are next. They drape a shawl around their neck then get to applying light makeup with natural colours.

Colours that make their already ‘pretty’ face pop out a little more. Then, finally, they slip the wig on after putting their wig cap on and they take a step back to look at them.

The peach-coloured dress they wear is elegant, gorgeous in its presentation – the front of the dress stops just below their knees, yet the back is longer, flowing, and drags across the floor as they walk. The top of the dress is covered in white leaf-shaped embroidery that blends in with the transparent long sleeves of the said dress and they clasp their hands out in front of them, taking in their looks.

With their wig up in a ponytail with a chiffon ribbon, they think... they think they really do look nice. They smile, their glossy lips shining a little under the light, and they take a few easy, relaxed steps back from the mirror. They set their plastic bag next to Yosuke and Kanji’s backpacks before they finally take their leave, their hands folding in front of them while they take confident, long strides towards where the pageant is being held.

Yu arrives just in time to hear the teacher start talking about a few things, doing a small speech to ease everyone into the pageant while all the pageant goers stand beside the curtains. Their friends spot them soon enough and everyone else’s eyes widen in surprise when they all take in what Yu is wearing.

“Yu-kun, is that you?” Chie says, trying not to be too loud as to be heard by the audience but still surprised at the way Yu is dressed. “Where did you get all that? When were you good at makeup!?” they don’t respond, opting to ignore her and everyone else’s wide-eyed stare while they instead take in what the girls are wearing instead.

Chie, to Yu’s surprise as well, is wearing a long maxi dress with big slits by the side – black with white roses all over. When they ask, she regains her self and manages to enthusiastically reply “it’s because I saw a Wuxiao movie with a badass lady who wore a black Cheongsam, but the issue is I couldn’t find a Cheongsam anywhere so... compromise!”

Yukiko, to Chie’s side, wears a red gown with elegant, gold embroidery that stretches all the way down to her ankles, and black opera gloves rest snugly on her arms. Her makeup is more striking than Chie’s, where the former uses more muted colours and Yukiko makes sure that her appearance is emboldened by dark reds and deeper colours.

And Naoto?

Naoto dresses like a prince.

Upon her deep blue vest with swirling, golden embroidery sits a long, white jabot. White, leather gloves adorn her hands and she wears black loafers with gold buckles and white breeches. Her only makeup seems to be eyeliner and something to cover up the shadows beneath her eyes. A short cape flows from her back and her right shoulder, her hair slicked back, and she stands there with a big blush when Yu seems to be especially taken back by her attire.

“Do I look awful?” Naoto says, “I know I acted confidently about all of this, but...”

Yu shakes their head and doesn’t get the time to answer when the contests end up being called up on stage, one by one, by name. There aren’t a lot of people take part in the contest – it is the six of them with at least four other girls – so it doesn’t take long before their friends start going up on stage one by one.

They wish each one a ‘good luck’ while they stand and wait for their turn to be called up, Naoto smiling at them gently, reassuringly, before she goes up next.

“And last, but not least, Narukami Yu!” a female teacher’s voice calls out and they take in a deep breath before finally stepping out from behind the curtains and into the light of the stage.

Everyone immediately breaks out into murmuring upon seeing Yu and they try not to flinch too much at all the attention – they should expect this, after all. In their previous school, their looks is what flocks people to them – their long, silver hair, their gentle gaze, the softness of their face and the ethereal beauty that everyone claims they have. Or, used to claim. They try not to retreat from everyone’s eyes as people whisper amongst themselves so loudly that Yu swears the students want them to hear.

Yet, among them, they see Adachi, Chisato, and Nanako in her mother’s arms. They see Adachi looking at them with something akin to being impressed, Chisato smiling widely and cheering them on as always, and Nanako grinning so widely that they worry her face will split in half. For a moment, all of the chatter dulls... but that is for but a second, less than that even. Everyone’s words come back full force, but that doesn’t matter. The things everyone is saying...

All of the murmurs about how much of a pretty boy they are, girls swooning or being jealous over how pretty they look-

“_Hey! Narukami-senpai, w-would you go out with me?”_

“_... is this... is this for the challenge?”_

Who can score a date with the hottest girl in school? Yu looks up, smiles, and then begins delivering their speech without lowering their pitch, keeping it high, and people startle at how well they ‘act’ in being a girl. “I hope that I am able to impress today... I know this must look odd, but I must always strive to do my best in everything, even this...”

They keep a smile on their face, endear themself to everyone, and bow deeply before them with a long, deep-voiced thanks this time, trying to sound like the ‘boy’ they expect.

“_Yo, Narukami-chan’s kinda pretty...”_

“_She’s way out of your league, don’t even bother!”_

“_Hey! I can appreciate beauty, alright?! Still... man, she’s so unbelievable. Who’da known girls like her exist?”_

“_And she’s so pure too! She’s the ideal girl! Feminine, polite... she’s even a good cook from what I hear.”_

“_Man, shame she turned me down...”_

“_You actually took the challenge?! Dumbass!”_

This time, everyone simply seems them as a boy too competitive for ‘his’ own good. They answer each question from the teacher with practised ease, a smile on their face the entire time.

“It’s amazing how seriously you took this, Narukami-chan! What was it that motivated you so? Maybe you just wanted to make a point, hm?”

“Haha, no, I’m sorry if it came off that way, sensei,” they smile politely, “I simply wanted to take this seriously because it would be unfair if I did not. Everyone else is working so hard, so I cannot be halfhearted about it. It would be rude of me if I was.”

“How amazing! Even when you’re doing something so strange, you’re still sincere about it! Here’s to hoping people appreciate your hard work!”

Girls whisper about how much of a good boyfriend they will be, how nice it will be to have someone as serious and as genuine as them in each of their lives. Yu bows their head down.

“_You always have so many boys approaching you, you’re so lucky. No other boy ever approaches me...”_

“_Prob’ly ‘cause your expectations are too high! Maybe if you lowered them, then you’d get a boyfriend!”_

“_UGH, but if they’re not as perfect as Yumi-chan, then what’s the point!?”_

“_Why are you trying to get someone as perfect as a girl like Yumi? Are you stupid?!”_

“_Haha... I’m glad you think highly of me anyway... and... I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about...”_

“_Ohh my gosh! You’re so adorable! It’s okay, why do I need boys when I have friends like you around?”_

“_Actually, speaking of, I take it back. I see her point now.”_

They have done this many times before, and even then – there is something relaxing about wearing the clothes they like again, feeling a little more relaxed than usual in their own skin. Nodding along to teacher’s words, entertaining the audience, and giving vague answers naturally.

_Why aren’t you interested in me? Is it because of the way I look? Do you have someone already? I’m better than he is. C’mon! Your future husband isn’t gonna want a virgin! Don’t hang out with those punks, I have great scores and I’m able to keep up with you. You’re so kind Yumi-chan._

_ How did you turn out to be such a freak when you were so perfect before? _

“Now.. it seems that we have an even number of contestants here today! Why don’t we make them all pair up and do a small dance together? Just a little fun something for the crowd here, to lift everyone’s moods from all that dreariness outside!”

They consider teaming up with Yosuke for a moment only to find themself startled when they feel someone gently poking their shoulder. They look over their shoulder and widen their eyes when they see Naoto’s gentle expression. “Would you like to dance together? I feel like we have the best coordination together, Yu-senpai.”

She isn’t really wrong either. Even though they both stumble at first, Naoto ends up leading them into a slow dance to capitalize on the fact that the two of them look almost like a prince and princess couple. Unlike what they expects, she does not ask a single question and simply lets the two of them dance together – for a moment, dancing with her, pretending they are at a ballroom... there is a brief, simple moment of peace.

“And it seems that our winners are... Oh dear! It seems to be tied between Shirogane Naoto and Narukami Yu! What a dilemma, everyone! It seems you all at the beauty pageant can’t seem to make up your mind! I suppose that this is the first time that _ no one _wins at our beauty pageant! Though, I am sure that we all believe in our hearts that Narukami Yu and Shirogane Naoto are the real winners of this show.”

The two of them wake up together and Naoto – her with her hand on her abdomen and bowing ninety degrees and Yu giving a prolonged curtsy. Walking off of the stage, they are immediately assaulted by their friends rushing to greet them – Yosuke throws his arms around them, Kanji slaps their back playfully, Chie tries to join in on the embrace while Yukiko stands back and watches. Naoto is spared by their tackling, especially when everyone praises Yu for being so serious about this.

They try not to make it clear that the entire time they feel everyone else touching them, they have to remind themself that they are just loving, kind people. Even if their friends rarely give them hugs, aren’t as physical and as affectionate as Kou or even Nanako, they still need to remember that in the end, their friends don’t mean any harm.

“You looked AMAZING partner! What the hell!” Yosuke says as he drags himself back from Yu, grinning so widely they can’t help but smile back shyly. “You’re amazing at everything you do, aren’t you?”

For some reason, Yu wants to say no. They want to deny him.

_Why are so you abnormal?! You freak! You’re not even thinking like a normal person! You’re neither? You seriously don’t think yourself as either? Are you stupid?_

“We should go celebrate our victory,” Naoto says, “let us change back to normal, and I will treat us all to a nice, hot meal of steak.”

“Steak!?” Chie gasps, “HELL yeah, let’s get some STEAK!”

“I... I think I want to go home, now.” Yu says softly, “I feel tired. But... please celebrate without me.” they bow before everyone else before moving away, grab their stuff from the club room, and change at a stall in the boy’s bathroom instead. Chisato congratulates them but they rather just go home for now and fall asleep for the rest of the day. With it being a day before the weekend, they find themself able to do that – they fall onto their bed after changing out, curl into the sheets...

And for some reason, they cannot stop crying. From happiness, from bittersweet memories? Though others may not know... if they are to think on this day at another time then they think the answer will be obvious.

They are happy, even if no one will ever be able to know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfit references/inspirations:  
Naoto  
\- [1](https://previews.agefotostock.com/previewimage/medibigoff/a3db6b3830902b9311a08389dc67d0d4/b21-1350644.jpg)  
-[ 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Carlos_X_de_Francia_%28Fran%C3%A7ois_G%C3%A9rard%29.jpg)  
\- [3](https://cache.mrporter.com/variants/images/10375442619237733/fr/w2000_q80.jpg)  
\- [4](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/6d/71/776d71902c5f6ea82752050b27842414.jpg)
> 
> Chie:  
\- [1](https://media.missguided.com/s/missguided/YX9207399_set/1/tall-black-basic-high-neck-maxi-dress)  
\- [2](https://images.boardriders.com/global/billabong-products/all/default/hi-res/jd14sbcr_billabong,wg_blk_frt1.jpg)
> 
> Yu  
\- [1](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d7/7f/3e/d77f3ea39f06bdce6f41991756476834.png)  
\- [2](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1ZfEKXTHuK1RkSndVq6xVwpXa8/Champagne-Long-Prom-Dresses-2020-New-Elegant-Beaded-Crystals-Backless-Puffy-African-Two-Piece-Prom-Dress.jpg)  
\- [3](https://assets.torrid.com/is/image/torrid/12092103_av1?%24pdp_hero_standard%24)
> 
> Yosuke  
\- [1](https://img.ltwebstatic.com/images3_pi/2020/07/09/15942610989068154687fc72febb5a7c82099ae1fe_thumbnail_600x.jpg)
> 
> Yukiko's outfit is their OG Palace outfit, except different.  
Kanji's outfit is their OG pageant outfit, but slightly different.


	43. Chapter 41

A man in a butterfly’s mask stands before them – in and out of existence he flickers, his long hair sways in the wind. Dense fog whisper across his fine shoes, yet never once does he drown behind the endless grey. In a world of dreariness, he lights up like a beacon of hope – they cannot help but reach out towards him. They cannot see his smile – the mask does not extend that far – and yet they feel gentleness radiating from him in endless waves. A step closer and wind whips around them, throwing their clothes all around -

He stands there and waits for them, as patient as he is kind.

“_Narukami Yu.”_

Their name is a gentle whisper, a promise of better times. Yet they know it is not his voice who calls out to them. No, this is a different voice – one they do not expect. They take a few steps closer – one more, another, keep going, he is not too far away!

Cracks appear upon his body, spreading all around until he shatters into a million glass shards and they bring their arms up to shield their face from the onslaught. Gone is the gentle, kindly man in the butterfly mask, and there – in his place – someone else stands. How similarly he looks to Adachi yet where the officer’s skin is pale his is greyed, deathly. Where Adachi has black hair his is brown like chestnuts. Where Adachi’s eyes are silver sharp yet dully grey his are a striking, soothing hazel.

“Narukami Yu.” he says snidely, “aren’t you an interesting one.”

Their voice cannot crawl free, their tongue oozes black slime onto the ground. The fake Adachi stands there, hands in his pockets and a wide, wide smile on his face. “I promised not to interfere, you see...” he says and closes his eyes, as though to play the innocent, “I got my fill years ago. Yet, how interesting are humans – forever bound to play the song of the Gods. You play the tune of a friend, yet you lie like one in power.”

Yu stands motionless before this illusory soothsayer, hair swaying gently within otherwise violent winds. “Na-ru-ka-mi Yu,” he says again, voice deeper and hypnotic, a song they cannot forget, “you made a deal not knowing what it costed you, didn’t you?

“Not even we can save you now.”

He reaches out towards Yu, both hands extended, and they cannot help but mimic him. He places his hands upon their cheeks and theirs to his before they both sink down, down onto the ground. Their dress stretches endlessly upon the floor, a sea of gold and purity amidst all the enveloping darkness. “There is darkness within us all,” he says secretively, his smile curling even further into a damning smirk, “these creatures so sacrilegiously called Shadows, stolen from my womb – you know what is coming soon, do you not?” skin peels back upon his face, beneath their palms, and moist, growing eyeballs roll all over in their attempts to see beyond their fleshed curtains.

His outfit burns to dust and reveals more ashen skin, eyes forcing eye sockets where there should not be one. Black slime oozes out of their own eyes, dribbles down their ears and nostrils the further they gaze into Adachi’s_ actual _eyes.

The fake Adachi squeezes their head, their skull crumbling beneath the pressure. “But perhaps you need a _push.”_

They awake extremely early this day, the sun filtering in through their curtains and cool air sneaks through the littlest opening that Yu leaves behind. Their hair, longer from neglect, splay all around their head and their blanket hangs precariously from their makeshift bed. Sitting up, they look over to the clock to see they wake up an hour earlier than usual for their weekend but they cannot fall back to sleep. This once, they remember their dream vividly – exhaustion drips into their bone marrow and poisons their blood cells, tainting unused platelets.

The urge to see Naoya rises up like bile and they have to close their eyes and breathe deeply to finally calm themself down after all of that. The faker who uses Adachi’s voice and looks – surely he realises they are not as close to him as they want to be? Chisato’s friend who is always kind for her, always there for her... Life is a bridge of misunderstandings and Yu frowns.

With courage they don’t recall feeling before, they put a new goal before themself and press their hands to their chest. Hopefully he will not mock them for their ‘convincing performance’ at the pageant the day prior and even if he does then Yu will make sure that will not deter them.

They need to make sure that that vile visage in their dreams do not taint their already fragile memories of Adachi.

With nothing to do this morning they take the time to finish up any left behind homework and to study a little – when they still end up having jittery energy from their dream they take the time to indulge in a book they never get to read because of how tired they always are. When morning comes and they are downstairs before she is, Chisato comes along look confused yet much more awake than Yu feels. She cooks breakfast as usual, moving to wake Nanako up once food is ready and she sits next to Yu who holds onto their half-done book.

“Since when did you wake up before me?” Chisato says and Yu wants to point out that they have, maybe once or twice, hopped awake before her but that is early on when they arrive here, attempting to adjust to the new town and the abruptly supernatural lifestyle.

A shrug and they say, “I had a nightmare.” Chisato looks at them worryingly and Yu shakes their head, “no, not a nightmare of what happened. But – yeah.” they twiddle their thumbs together, feeling a little shy now, “and... I know this is a huge topic change, but – do you think you could drive me to Adachi-san’s place today?”

Chisato jolts a little at that before she nods, though she first excuses herself to go and call Adachi to let them know what Yu is planning to do. They can hear her talking to Adachi even as she walks into Ryoutarou’s old office, her voice loud but not angry or anything like that – at most, Chisato seems amused at whatever Adachi is telling her.

Perhaps what they are doing is a very, very bad idea. It hits them, belatedly, that maybe confronting Adachi is not the move to go for – it isn’t even necessarily confronting him for anything but themself for being scared. Yet how long are they going to be scared of a man their aunt is friend’s with?

The dream that invades their mind gives to them a sense of bravery – one that they think gone after they hit puberty and ‘mature too quickly’. They share their mother’s beauty – many of the features people love on them comes from her yet they are nothing like her when she is a teen, once. Their father will entertain with high-school stories, talking about how they much beautiful girl in the entire school is ‘undesirable’ for being crude, loud and herself.

“_Your __mom_ _always was her unapologetic_ _self when we were back in high-school,__” he says while Yu sits next to him on the couch, “I’m pretty sure she acted out like a delinquent because she just didn’t like everyone wanting her to be some sort of fragile flower.”_

When they sometimes look at pictures of their mom from her youth, they see many of the same features that they have – some are different, like the length of their hair and the sharper expression on their mom’s face – and wonder what it is like. They get their mom’s long, silver hair, her petite and delicate frame, and the shape of their eyes. They get their dad’s lively, grey eyes and his shorter nose.

Is Adachi any different from the city boys and men? Perhaps it is unfair to compare them – Adachi is a cop on an impossible case, a case only Yu can solve yet does not know how.

But if they do not get over the creeping anxiety he gives them whenever he is near then Yu will not be able to forgive themself for doubting Chisato’s friend.

“Tohru-kun said that you can come visit if you need him for anything after eight.” Yu nods slowly, hands curling onto their lap and they try their best to keep them from trembling. “I didn’t expect you to want to visit Tohru-kun,” Chisato says with a gentle smile, “but – trust me, when you get over what a weirdo he can be sometimes, he’s a good guy.”

They think back to his fingers stroking his hair, his hands constantly resting somewhere on their person. Yet with Chisato he is always kind, always respecting her and teasing her like a friend would. He takes in the void that Ryoutarou leaves for Nanako and he is much nicer to her than he is to Yu.

Is it because they go snooping into cases they shouldn’t? Naoto and officer Uchida are helping them now, however, and they cannot ignore the fact that the fog grows worse and worse.

“... do you think – that – that he – he would like it if I cooked something for him?” they wince as they end up not saying the ugly thought rearing its head up and Chisato nods before she goes on a tangent about the fact that Adachi mostly eats takeout and never eats healthy. She doesn’t blame him, she says sincerely, but she still thinks that he needs to take care of himself.

For some reason, hearing that Adachi eats unhealthily and that Chisato frets over him because of that... sounds strangely human.

Because they don’t have anything to do until a little before eight, they tell Chisato that they are going to hang out with their friends. She gives them Adachi’s phone number before they go, however, telling them that they can contact him themself next time to see when he’s free and Yu accepts it after a hot minute. Seeing his name on their contact list is extremely, very strange and Yu thinks that maybe it is better, instead, if they don’t call him at all. Maybe they can exchange emails instead.

They really don’t get to despair long when they arrive at the business district, the skies oddly clearer than normal today which means that navigation is much easier. They walk around aimlessly until their feet ends up dragging them towards Rise’s family’s tofu shop and they stand there, a little stupid, before they take a step inside and bow.

“Oh!” her aunt says, sitting at the till like usual, “you must want to see Rise-chan. She’s in her room right now, why don’t you go on in?”

They bow before her, “thank you, ma’am.”

Yu finds her sitting on her bed, knees drawn up and her expression constantly changing as he reads the book in her hands. At the sound of the door opening and them coming in, she puts her book aside and beams when she sees Yu. She shifts and puts her book down, pats the spot in front of her, and Yu smiles at her while taking the offered spot.

They settle down cross-legged in front of her, putting their bag aside and trying to be comfortable.

“Yu-kun!” Rise says with a big grin, “I didn’t expect to see you here today – is, is it okay that you’re hanging out with me right now and not your friends...?”

Yu nods, “it’s fine, Rise-san. You don’t have to worry about that.” they shift a little bit, “I just wanted to see how you were doing, I didn’t get to see you at all yesterday, what with everything that was going on...”

“Yes, I’m so sorry about that! They said they wouldn’t let anyone but the people who were actually on the pageant behind the curtains, so I couldn’t come up as congratulate you.” she frowns while hugging her knees, “and then you weren’t around when I caught up with everyone else.”

“I left early.”

“Oh! Well, that’s okay. I just – I just didn’t want you to think I was just... not there, or something. I really, really was, but I blended in perfectly and it took everyone else some time to recognise me and...”

Yu puts a fleeting hand on Rise’s knee, “breathe, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you, and I wouldn’t be over something like this.” they say and let their hand drop soon after. “But you were right, that dress looked really good on Kanji-san.”

She breathes a sigh of relief. “Right? I thought he’d be perfect with a Marilyn Monroe sort of look, but... Yu-kun, are we going to ignore how amazing you looked?” they laugh politely, “no, really, you looked amazing! You were – you were gorgeous, and I’ve _never _ described _ anyone _as gorgeous. You’re the first, Yu-kun.”

“I’m happy to hear that, Rise-san.”

They veer the conversation away from them and soon begin to talk about the things she wants to talk about – there is still a lot about Rise that they don’t know, like the fact that she doesn’t know what a skunk looks like but knows raccoons and thinks raccoons are cute. She loves possums even if there are none here in Inaba and goes on about her bug collection again, talking at great lengths about things that Yu doesn’t understand that well given that Rise is going deep into the scientific territory of bugs.

Yet, Yu is happy for her – she deserves something to be excited over and seeing her more lively now than prior to the Palace warms their heart.

Eventually they part after spending a long, long amount of time taking notes to Rise’s intense biology lessons in regards to bugs and, later, them wandering around Inaba while she has a disguise on. It is good fun, especially when they end up running into Naoto doing her work.

She greets them but then apologises, saying that she doesn’t have much time to hang out with them but it ends with Rise saying she needs to go back to the store now anyway.

They compliment her on her knowledge, tell her maybe she should consider a job in something like that, and then leaves with gentle goodbyes and curt nods.

“You two seem to getting along well,” Naoto says while she puts her notepad and pencil away, “it’s good to see that. Officer Uchida was a bit worried about Rise-san because of how lonely she seemed while she was keeping watch on her that lone week.”

Yu looks at her curiously, “yes, she seemed very downtrodden when we first met her, didn’t she? It’s heartwarming to see her do better nowadays.”

Naoto just nods, not pressed unlike before, and she simply stands there and retreats into her thoughts. They watch her for a moment, taking in her inquisitive look and the fact that she frowns or squints her eyes while she is talking, and they think that it is best that they leave at this moment – though, they hesitate. They feel like they need to tell her something important – something related to the case. She doesn’t seem to notice their hesitation as they try to recall what it -

“Naoto-san?” Yu says eventually and she looks over at them, “I heard from Yosuke-san that Namatame Taro works as a deliveryman now at ZZZ company.”

“I see... I’ll try and get Uchida-san to see if she is able to grab me the driver’s list – we finally got approval for it a week ago, but they decided to make our lives quite difficult.” she puts her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side, “they’ve given a list with the routes and drives attached and there are quite a lot of them. We will let you know if we find anything, okay, Yu-san? There is no guarantee that Namatame Taro will prove important to this case.”

Still, they are glad to have it off their chest – they don’t remember what he looks like, anyway, and the only description they have on the kidnapper’s description is Kanji’s vague descriptor of a ‘dopey face and a mole’. They hope that whatever happens Yu and them turn out to be useful to Naoto’s actual, legitimate investigations.

The only thing they have left is to spend a few hours busying themself with working out, working, or reading to pass the time. An hour before eight they go down to cook something for Adachi. Chisato gives them the ingredients to cook and tells them what Adachi’s favourite food is and they set about to make something so amazing that it will knock his socks off. They try not to think back to their nightmare – with the gentle, butterfly masked man who cannot speak and the monster that imitates Adachi. It has something to do with the TV world, doesn’t it?

Shadows, born of that creature’s womb...

There really is something greater at play here and Yu doesn’t know what to do. For now, they just have food to attend and then a car ride with their aunt to ride.

Adachi lives in an apartment building a little ways away from Inaba – not too much that it’s inconvenient but just enough that Yu will not know it is here otherwise. Chisato promises to write the route down for them next time if they ever want to come here by bus and Yu just thanks her gently before grabbing the plastic bag with the still hot containers of food. They follow the directions Chisato gives them on their phone, opting to take the stairs instead of the lift so that they can gather their nerves to talk to Adachi properly, at their own pace and not one he dictates.

Why are they doing this because of a nightmare?

They put their phone away, ring Adachi’s buzzer, and waits patiently for him. The gentle sound of his footfalls is almost disarming, as well as his tired sounding ‘I’m coming’ from behind the door. The door pulls back to remove Adachi’s dishevelled appearance, his hair messier than normal and making him look almost boyish and his clothes are a plain tee and grey sweatpants.

“Yu-kun?” Adachi says, “oh, man, you were actually serious about coming over. Uh, get in then, kid.” Yu bows quickly before stepping in, Adachi looking vaguely confused as to why they are here. Apparently, he really does expect Yu to just not show up.

The apartment that they step into is small, minimalist – there aren’t a lot of mementos or personal decorations around, not even poster of old movies or such, unlike Chisato who has a lot of movie posters back home. One thing that surprises them is the fact that the walls are cream-coloured and everything looks cozy, for what little there is. His kitchen is bare bones when they compare it to Chisato’s and his fridge is _ barren. _

“I made you something to eat,” Yu says, “were you gonna order takeout?” Adachi nods, though he rubs the back of his head and just watches as Yu grabs some dirty dishes and scrubs them clean, their hands shaking the entire while. “Auntie Chisato told me that you really like these, so I made them for you.”

Adachi sits down at the tablecloth on the floor, looks up at the hot meal and Yu just smiles shyly, hopefully, at him. With a sigh, he grabs his chopsticks, raises them up, and says a bored, “thanks for the meal,” before digging in.

He looks at the food presented before him, utterly dumbfounded for a second or so. He takes another bite, looks up at Yu, then says, “this is... really good.” with a full mouth. He continues to dig in while Yu watches, happily, as he eats the meal that they prepare for him. They watch him eat and stand up to get anything he wants – the one thing he has in abundance, for certain, is soda and beer. Though, he asks for soda and not beer like they expect and they hand it to him with both hands, one cradling the bottom of the rather cold can.

“You’re way too formal, kid.” Adachi says while he takes the soda, opening it with a loud _ hiss _of gas and the fizzing of carbonation, “what’d you want here, anyway?”

They curl their hands on their knees and lean forward, staring at Adachi head-on and he leans back a little, taken back by their stare. “I am going to be honest with Adachi-san, and I hope Adachi-san is understanding when I say this: I feel as though there is a strange distance between us and I would like to rectify that, for my auntie’s sake if not mine. I want to like my auntie’s best friend, and not worry her. Would you please consider humouring me on this, until you can at least tolerate me?”

He stares at Yu dumbly, obviously not expecting anything that they are saying, and he pokes at the little bit of food that he has left. “Y’know, I really don’t know what you expect me to say to all of that.” Adachi says simply – not an acceptance, but also not a rejection. He finishes what little of his food is left behind and slowly sips his soda while he peers up at Yu through his eyelashes. Leaning back, Adachi reaches for the TV remote and flips it on.

The, now rather annoying, jingle of Junes starts playing as an overdrawn advertisement pops onto the screen, turning into a long catalogue about nothing. Yu looks away from Adachi, who swirls his pop around in his hand while looking up at the ceiling.

“Alright.” he says after a long minute of silence and Yu sits up, shocked into reality from the sound of his voice. “I’ll humour you. I leave work earlier on Tuesdays than any other day of the week thanks to Dojima-san, prior to his passing of course. Just make sure to bring me food every time you come over, got it?”

“... Are you just saying yes because you want free food?” Yu asks, furrowing their brow.

He snorts in amusement, puts his mostly empty can down, and shrugs his shoulders. “Who knows, maybe if y’know me better you’ll be able to figure it out.” he helps Yu with packing everything up before he shoos them away from the kitchen. He puts the dishes away himself and has to physically push Yu away from the sink to keep them from trying to help out any further.

“Then... goodbye, Adachi-san,” Yu says, bowing before him at the door, “I told my auntie to wait for me, so I’m going to have to go now.”

He scratches the back of his ear, his expression unreadable as he looks at Yu. “I’ll drive you home next time, kid.” he says and watches Yu nod. “... good job on the pageant, kid.” he says after a few seconds, as Yu stays behind when it seems like he wants to say something. “Didn’t get to congratulate you or celebrate it with you, but, good job. Prettiest contestant up there.”

“Thank you, Adachi-san.”

“Mhm. See ya, kid. Don’t do anything that’ll land you in jail.”

The car ride back is surreal mostly because Chisato only asks a few questions and seems fine with the vague answers. The night sky glimmers with stars above when Chisato drives them back. Nanako doesn’t greet them back, mostly because she has a sleepover at a friend’s house and she won’t be here until tomorrow. As they head back to their room and sit on their bed, Yu takes one look outside the window and hopes that no more odd, bizarre dreams come their way.


	44. Chapter 42

Despite the fact that they promise Adachi to meet him on Tuesdays, they still end up visiting him once their day is done. They take the bus route to his place, making sure to text him before they arrive, and Adachi looks confused the moment Yu comes over and mostly just… house keeps for him.

“You do realise you’re acting as a glorified maid by doing this, right?” he says when Yu refuses to let him help them with cleaning up, though the one thing he does get to clean up on his own are his clothes because they get embarrassed touching them every single time. “Why are you so determined on doing this?” Adachi says while he sips the glass of ice cold water Yu brings for him instead of the soda he asks for.

They stop with their mopping to instead lean against the mop. They peer down at Adachi from their eyelashes and wonder how to tell him that despite the fact that they act so brave the previous day that they are utterly freaked out that their feet brings them here?

“I’m doing this for auntie Chisato’s sake,” Yu says, “I want her to know that I don’t hate her best friend.”

Adachi shakes his head, “you know she doesn’t care otherwise? She’s a good one, so…” he shrugs, “you’re in good hands. You don’t _have _to come over. It’s pretty weird a teenager’s hanging out with an adult, anyway.”

“But,” Yu protests, “I’m an adult too.”

“You’re _eighteen, _kid. That barely constitutes as an adult.”

“But I am one regardless!” Yu shakes their head, “even if I am aware I’m not mentally one, I am legally recognised as an adult and I’m going to be going to university immediately after. You aren’t that old either, are you, Adachi-san? You seem like someone who got into this line of work extremely young.”

Adachi snorts and stares at his water, an odd look overtaking his face. “I’m eight years your senior, Yu-kun.”

“You are very young,” they say, “my auntie’s much, much older than you, isn’t she? Both uncle Ryoutarou and auntie Chisato were.”

He hums thoughtfully and takes another sip of his water, “s’pose so. Dojima-san always said it was weird that someone young like me was shoved all the way over to the boonies.” they look at him curiously, set the mop aside, and then make sure to sit a good distance away from him on the sofa. He seems amused when he sees Yu sitting on the other end. “… you really didn’t know your uncle much, did’ja?”

Yu shakes their head, “no, no I really didn’t.” they say and smile sadly, “sometimes I have dreams of him where my auntie died in his place, and he was obsessed with finding out who killed her. Nana-chan was basically an adult by the time the dream-me got there, at only six years old…”

“Well, you don’t hafta worry ‘bout her in this timeline, I guess.” Adachi takes another sip. “Chisato-chan’s a great person, a lovely mom too. Dunno what I’d do if she died instead of Dojima-san, but speculation won’t get us anywhere.”

They peer at him curiously, taking in his slouched form and his lazy drinking, one leg horizontal atop his knee. Unlike before, where he tries to get close to Yu and put a hand on them, he doesn’t seem inclined to do anything. He seems comfortable just sitting there, watching TV and taking in the trashy drama on display, looking relaxed and quite comfortable.

It doesn’t take him long to look away from the TV to instead glance over at Yu, meeting their inquisitive gaze. “Adachi-san, I’d like to ask a question.” he hums, encouraging them to go on. “Did you even like uncle Ryoutarou?” Yu asks and Adachi blinks at that.

“Now, why’d you wanna know something like that?” he tilts his head to the side, gaze sharper now, “you planning on telling Chisato-chan or somethin’?”

“No!” Yu shakes their head, an unwanted panicking rearing its ugly head as they see that familiar looking gaze again, the eyes of the same man who intimidates and threatens, aware of their investigation. “I – I wanted to know, because everyone keeps thinking I should be sad over Dojima-san, and everyone else on the police force think so too. And… and I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Adachi rolls his head, as though trying to get rid of a kink in his neck while also rubbing at its side. He looks off to the side, as though wondering how to answer before he just gives a long, drawn-out sigh and hunches over even further, looking over at Yu with something similar to defeat in his eyes.

“Wanna know the truth? He was a hard guy to get along with. Always serious and strict. I was only twenty-two when I was punted all the way here in Inaba, y’know. Briefly worked at the city, then they decided, nah, better suited out here.” he shrugs. “He never took it easy on me, that guy. Always worked hard, and made me work harder.”

They settle a little more comfortably on the sofa, leg drawing up so that they can rest their head on their knees. Adachi keeps going. “He wasn’t a bad guy, just rough. Kept talkin’ bout how the only thing he had in the world were Nanako-chan and Chisato-chan.” they shift a little bit. “In a way… I don’t know what he’d be like if Chisato-chan died instead, but – well, I think Nanako-chan’s luckier that her mom lived and not the dad.”

“Do you really think that way?”

He nods absentmindedly. “Dojima-san was always the kind’a person who would let his obsessions get in the way of everything else. He had a good track record, sure, but…” he shrugs, “from the four years I knew him, and after he moved in with Chisato-chan… if she died and he lived, I think he would’ve gone nuts trying to find out who did it.”

“… I wish that they were both alive and living happily together,” Yu says, “it would’ve been nice to see my uncle.”

There are a few moments of awkward silence as Yu actually tries to take a moment to rest and relax, closing their eyes as they breathe in and out deeply. They open their eyes and stare up at the ceiling, and they jolt when Adachi loudly claps his hands. “I got some videos Chisato-chan and I filmed whenever she got the fancy for it. Dojima-san’s in them if you wanna watch it together.”

They look at him with wide eyes, lips parting a little. He sighs in agitation. “Look, just, you looked really pathetic like that and I got a way you could see Dojima-san. If you don’t wanna-”

“No, no!” Yu shakes their head, “no, please. I’d like to watch the videos. Can we watch them right now, please?”

Adachi gets up, stretches his legs, then leaves for somewhere before coming back with the media in question. He fumbles around with the TV, hooks everything up after rummaging around in his closet, and then sits back down onto the sofa while he hands the remote over to Yu so that they can watch a few home movies and maybe even seen an even babier version of Nanako.

They don’t know when it happens but at some point they end up falling asleep. When they wake up, it is on a small yet comfortable bed and an Adachi standing over them, shaking their shoulder gently. “C’mon, kid, I gotta take ya back home ‘fore your school starts and I gotta go to work.” it is five in the morning when they check, meaning they’ve been asleep for eight hours, which is longer than the usually get to sleep. He takes them to the kitchen where he makes a very simple breakfast and some coffee for them, “you look crazy tired, this’ll help you out a little.”

Still a bit tired, Adachi drives them back to their house where Chisato waits for them. The two of them don’t get to chat for long before Adachi has to leave for work and Chisato lets Yu get another hour of sleep before they are dragging their way back to school. Nanako talks to them about something that is going to happen at their school – apparently, some very important people are going to come by and that is all she tells Yu. They ruffle her hair and wish her the best with her day regardless.

“Oh-oh-oh! Did cousin Yu get the results from the maths contest yet…? Mommy said she got a call from the place!” she tilts her head adorably, her gaze big and hopeful.

Speaking of – they haven’t been thinking about that maths competition at all lately, though Chisato does mention it this morning before they leave for school. Apparently, the results will go live tomorrow and when they do they will call the first place of the competition. A part of them hopes that they aren’t the one who wins, though they keep that thought to themself.

School is fine – Kashiwagi still takes some getting used to because of her odd speech mannerisms and her method of teaching, which is to take more time trying to get one concept understood instead of continuously moving forward without checking to see if everyone gets it. People approach them here and there to congratulate them on the beauty pageant, talking about how amazing they looked and the fact that they even had the courage to go through with it. Kou, the feline he is, slinks up to Yu and envelopes them in a tight hug that lifts them off of their feet.

“Well, lookie here! It’s the great princess of the school, Narukami-chan!” he teases before setting Yu back down onto the ground, though he does pause briefly. “Man, I keep forgetting you’re so short. How come you’re such a shortie, huh? _Tiny._”

They pinch Kou’s nose until he eventually wrenches himself free. They do hang out together and he even invades their friend circle on the rooftop for a little while before he has to bounce, letting Yu know that he’ll be available after school if they want to hang out together. “Take care, Yucchi!” he says enthusiastically before hopping down the stairs to leave everyone alone.

“I still can’t get over how happy that guy is, holy shit, dude. Like, he a jester or somethin’?” Kanji says while he crosses his arms, legs spread and his foot sitting precariously between. Yukiko shoves a piece of tofu in his mouth to shut him up when he looks like he wants to say something else.

“You can’t get over that?” Yosuke says, “I can’t get over how close to Yu-kun he is. He isn’t even part of the investigation team!”

Yu shakes their head, “speaking of, has anyone seen anything pop-up on the Midnight Channel lately?” Yu says, “it feels so strange that nothing’s been happening lately...”

“I’ve seen no one.” Naoto speaks up, “but, officer Uchida and I do have interesting information for you guys. Because of Yosuke-senpai and Yu-senpai, we were able to pinpoint something: Namatame Taro’s family is the main operator of the delivery services in this general area. Though they don’t live in Inaba itself, they live close enough that they can deliver to the city close by and to Inaba as well... and he seems to have been quite busy with delivery here lately.”

Yosuke sits up, “wait, really? Then – doesn’t that mean that that’s kind of a lead?”

She shakes her head. “It could be, but the main issue is that we need more sufficient evidence. Of the five of us kidnapped, only one of us seems to vaguely know what the kidnapper looks like – and Rise-san’s case is also another issue.”

“How?” Chie asks, “didn’t you question her some time ago? She should definitely have seen something about it, like, anything! Maybe she actually go to see the kidnapper when everyone else couldn’t?”

Naoto winces. “She was knocked out from behind. As well, because of... Rise-san being able to use her idol fame, one of the officers relented and gave in because of his empathetic nature.

“Her getting away meant that they can put the blame on the incompetence on our behalf instead of someone being tricked by a deliveryman. The other issue is explaining Konishi Saki’s kidnapping, and there is no real way to link Namatame Taro with what happened to Yamano Mayumi.”

“So, we’re basically back to square one, huh?” Chie frowns, crosses her arms, and huffs. “So, like, if Namatame Taro isn’t the one who did it... then, can’t it be that he only did some of them? I think that even if he was the kidnapper, I don’t think he would’ve come to that conclusion on his own. Like, did you see the meltdown on TV before he just disappeared?”

“Officer Uchida and I entertained that notion as well. We need to figure out a way to connect the kidnappings and what happened with the first two victims as well as describing the discrepancy of Yamano Mayumi’s death, Konishi Saki’s intense hospitalization, and the relative healthiness of the rest of us.”

The group spend a few more minutes discussing this, only for everyone to go silent when Yu gleefully reminds the rest that the moment school is done they are going to go to the TV world and train. Oh, and Rise will be joining too! Just because nothing is happening doesn’t mean that they can slack out.

Rise seems excited to join them for this. Falling into the TV world has her Chie catching her before gently settling her down onto her feet. Teddie waits for them as always and Rise immediately pounces onto him, cooing about how cute the little demon is while he flails his tiny little arms. They do manage to eventually separate her from Teddie and instead take her out towards the palaces where she then brandishes a... fake kendo shinai which she waves around with one hand.

They lead her through how it is that these things work before going into the Velvet Room to grab their weapons. No one is here except for Igor, who welcomes them as usual. He doesn’t answer any of Rise’s questions, nor does he answer Yu’s.

“My Master is not here right now,” Igor says, “I will await his return before I dare speak of anything in regards to your questions. Do forgive the oddity of this situation.” they have to spend some time explaining to Rise what the Velvet Room is while grabbing the weapons that Igor and the rest are kind enough to store.

Just as they guess, Rise is more similar to Yukiko and Yosuke than she is Chie or Kanji – her persona’s sword is that of ice and, as a result, most of her focus is on using ice based skills to attack or enhance her shinai while she provides light support. Yosuke still trumps her in the support department, rivalled only by Yukiko, but they most definitely see her potential as they run around and drag their friends through the palaces. When they return to the Velvet Room to put their weapons away, Naoya is there this time – as well as everyone else.

Belladonna dosen’t seem to be singing this time – instead, she simply closes her eyes and sways side-to-side to the sound of the melancholic piano music Pianist-San plays. Naoya opens his eyes and looks over to them, smiling playfully – as always.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” he says while he sits in his armchair, legs crossed and gaze patient. “Is there anything I can help you with, Yu-san?”

They stare at him for a moment, wanting to ask him about the dream they have – the man in the butterfly mask, especially, is of interest to them – but they instead ask for some tea and nothing more. They do loiter near Igor to give him some cards for fusion but other than that they just wait a few minutes for Rise to finish questioning Naoya before they say something themself.

“Officer Uchida told me to say ‘hi’ for her, Naoya-san.” Yu says while offering the now-empty mug of tea back to Naoya, who takes it silently. “She seems to miss you, I think.”

Naoya huffs in amusement before nodding, hand swirling the mug around until he throws it up into the air and it disappears. “Thank you, Yu-san. I really appreciate it.” he says sombrely, “I hope everything goes well for you, and that you get what you want in the end.”

When they make their way back home via the bus, Nanako immediately pounces onto them and hugs them tightly. “Yu! Yu!” she gasps with excitement while they hold onto her, her little hands tugging at their uniform. “I’m on TV! I’m on TV!”

“Really?” they ask, trying to be jovial even as dread begins to slowly settle at the pit of their stomach, “why don’t you show me, Nana-chan?” she jumps out of their arms the moment they bring her down and rushes over to the living room, hopping and pointing enthusiastically at the TV.

Chisato is on the sofa as well, smiling gently at the sight of her daughter on the TV, and Yu walks up to stare at the news as well. There, right on the screen, is Nanako being interviewed for something to do in relation to school and the new generation who will pave the way for Japan. Unthinkingly, they text to Yosuke, _‘my cousin is on TV. Isn’t that amazing? I’m scared, though.’_ before putting their phone on silent and simply sit down to watch the news.  
The interview is well done – it honestly is. The man doing the interview is obviously quite good with kids, patient and slow with them as he makes sure to word his questions in a way so that young, first graders can answer properly. Nanako, as smart as she is, is able to understand some of the words sooner than the other kids and she happily talks about the school, her favourite teachers, and – unavoidably – her mother and how much she loves her mommy.

Throughout the entire interview, Yu has to fight with their anxiety to keep it from overwhelming them. They take Nanako in their arms once the interview is done, hug her tightly and congratulate her, and then promise to take her out to buy cake at her favourite coffee shop and she throws her arms up with a happy “yay! You better keep your promise, okay!? Or I’ll be really mad!”

That night, where there is no rain and they are the only person who can watch the Midnight Channel, they see someone on the TV screen. In a world surrounded by gold, an image of Nanako appears – a Nanako who stares up at a man with a butterfly mask as he holds her hand, head bowed down, and grief radiating from every inch of his body.

They try not to scream.


	45. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Tomorrow comes and Yu drags themself to school on ten minutes of sleep and very little breakfast in their belly and wants to just start screaming the moment they see Yosuke or anyone else. Every time someone looks at their face and takes in their sickly pallor they immediately recoil. Yukiko sees them, stares, and then looks away because she has no clue how to point out the deep shadows under their eyes and the fact that they look like shit without coming off as horrifically rude.

They can’t focus on even their first class of the day. They can only focus on the fact that Nanako appears on the Midnight Channel - because of course she does. She is barely, barely a kid and now the TV world demands her to be thrown in as well? Why her? Why can’t it be anyone else? Why isn’t it _Yu? _

What is going to happen to a little girl if she falls into the TV world? Yamano Mayumi _dies _for it and Konishi Saki only barely clings to life. Yukiko stays at home for a week and even though Kanji and Naoto come back fine those two still tell Yu about the light sickness they feel from leaving the TV world.

Can a girl as young as her even handle a persona? More than once, Yu forces themself to breathe while in class, trying not to make their struggles obvious as their lungs refuse to drag oxygen in and force out the carbon dioxide.

At some point, Kashiwagi calls their name out. “Narukami Yu, go to the nurse’s office, please.” she says in the middle of teaching and they jerk up in surprise, looking at her with big, wide eyes. “Is there anyone who can help escort Narukami-san to the nurse’s office?” she says after a while when Yu refuses to move and Chie’s hand shoots up immediately. “Thank you, Satonaka-san. Make sure to come back soon, okay? Narukami-san doesn’t need you to watch over him.”

Chie’s face is filled with worry when she helps Yu up and they step outside, her expression twisting up with upset. “Hey, is everything okay?” she asks after a while, “I think you should go home… you _really _look bad, Yu-kun.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Yu says, not wanting to admit that they feel just as bad. “I think I’ll rest here and then go back home. I’m sorry that I made you worry.” their voice is thick with exhaustion and they struggle to keep themself focused.

She only frowns. “You don’t have to say sorry for that.” she says after a while, “you’re my friend. I want you to be okay and… and, I don’t know. Can you tell me what’s wrong?” she looks at them with her big wide eyes, normally so full of hope and determination, and Yu tries not to flinch at the stab of guilt in their heart.

“I don’t… I don’t know.” Yu says softly, trying not to sink into their chest when Chie chews on her lower lip in thought.

She looks at them, peeks really, and then sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “You’re always so hard to read, y’know.” she says while coming to a stop a little before the nurse’s office and Yu shifts a little, their bag bouncing from the movement. “You woulda thought that Naoto-kun would be harder to read but, honestly, no. She’s super obvious sometimes, only sometimes. But… but you always keep pushing yourself and smiling about it and being polite.” she frowns deeply before looking Yu straight in the eyes with unwavering will. “Please, this one time, can you just be rude and tell me what’s wrong? No one’s gonna get mad at you.”

They hesitate and they cannot help but think back to their old school - how everyone praises them for being so polite, so quiet and patient and never bothering others with their own problems. The fact that they never complain about the school or others and is extremely nice, always willing to keep quiet even when they see an ex-friend smoke on the roof.

Back then, Yu’s best asset is being nice and polite, trying to keep their comments to themself to avoid having to explain their awkwardness away and not be bullied again. As a ‘girl’, honesty wins them nothing.

They finally take a deep breath to steady their nerves before speaking. “... can - can you tell everyone else to meet up at my house?” Yu says, their hands scrambling to get paper from their bag before they push it up against a wall and writes their address down. “Here. This is where I live. Make sure to show it to everyone, please and… tell Naoto-san to bring in officer Uchida. I’m… very tired right now.” Chie observes them fretfully after that, hovering near them when they open the door to the nurse’s office and she eventually leaves when the nurse shoos her away.

The nurse is a surprisingly young woman who seems to do a double-take when they look at Yu. “Oh, look at what’s happened to your poor, handsome face.” Yu just ignores her when she says that and immediately beelines to the cot, weakly fighting off her attempts to try and take their temperature or anything else and they instead just curl up on their side. They hear her working away, her fingers tapping at the keys of a computer and she seems to be noting things down.

At some point, when she thinks Yu is asleep, they grab their backpack from the floor and instead book it all the way up to the roof. No one thankfully catches them and this is way before lunch starts so no one can really bother them… or so they think until they actually get up to the roof. Sitting there, on the short pillar blocks that form a ‘U’ shape, is Kou with his legs crossed and his head leaning back.

He startles when Yu walks up to them, their footfalls rousing him from whatever daydream he partakes in and he whips around to stare at them like they are a serial killer and he is a helpless victim. In a strange way, Yu thinks distantly, he is only helpless if he is to fall into the TV world with them and they have to kill Kou.

“Yucchi!” he says, startled, “what’re you doing here?”

“What are you doing here yourself?” Yu counters.

Kou shakes his head then gives them his signature, teasing whine, “you can’t answer my question with a question! That’s cheating!” he shakes his head, “I woulda normally teased the hell outta you but… you do not look good. Are you okay? Should you really be at school today?”

Instead of saying anything, they decide to wander over to Kou and drop their backpack onto the floor nearby. They sit down next to him, stare down at their feet while Kou waits, surprisingly patient, for them to speak up and say what is bothering them. For some reason, the fact that Kou simply sits there - unspeaking, waiting - makes their face crumble, their expression twist.

Emotions desperately scrounge its way up their body, making Yu tremble while their knuckles turn an even more deathly white on their knees. They bow their head down, close their eyes, and shake when Kou’s hand rests on their back. Their hands fly up to their face and Kou pulls them closer, holds Yu carefully, protectively as though they are porcelain teetering on the edge of a shelf. They don’t know what it is that stirs up these unwanted feelings, what it is that makes them want to start crying all over again, but the tears do not come and Kou does not let go.

The only reason they part is the fact that the second class of the day is about to start and Kou apologises but admits that he doesn’t want to get caught skipping out on an actual, important class. They don’t say anything, not trusting their voice not to hiccup nor sound scratchy, so they simply wave goodbye and head off, sneaking around to make sure no one sees them and they look at their phone - more specifically, Chisato’s contact information.

They need to tell her, and fast. They neglect to tell her it this morning, still too shaken up by the realisation that Nanako is going to fall in - someone is going to grab her and chuck her in and it is all their fault that this happens. Their hand trembles. She is at work right now, they can’t just call her and ask her to pick them up -

Stupidly, they call Adachi up.

_“Hello?” _a confused, tinny voice says, _“this is Adachi Tohru of the Inaba Police Department. Who is this?”_

With a dry mouth and flaky tongue, they speak, “um… A-Adachi-san… can you… can you come pick me up? From… from my school, please.”

There is a bit of a pause on the other end and they consider, perhaps, that maybe Adachi wants nothing to do with them. They grip their bag strap tightly, bow their head down, and berate themself for expecting a busy officer to come pick them up - even if Chisato ends up being inconvenienced, it is better they ask her or just wait for the bus. They aren’t sick - they are just tired, tired and stu-

_“Yeah, sure. Just gimme a sec.” _he doesn’t hang up immediately and Yu can hear him vaguely talking to someone else, probably to tell that other person that he is going to go and help out with ‘Dojima-san’s nephew’. he eventually returns to Yu once done. _“The police station’s a lil’ far away, but not too much. I’ll be there in a few minutes, wait for me in front of the schoolgates.”_

They stare at their phone when Adachi hangs up and Yu… doesn’t know. They don’t know what they expect. They stand outside at the school gates, slide down into a squat only a scant few seconds later, and bury their face into their knees while they awit for Adachi to arrive. It is a little into second period that they hear the sound of a car rolling up on the rough ground and they peer up to see the car Adachi normally drives in.

“What’re you doing there, kid?” he says when Yu takes a little bit of time to stand up and dust themself clean. They move to sit in the passenger sit though Adachi stops them. “You can sleep in the back, you look like ya need it.” he flicks the radio off when he says that, the station coming to a rather abrupt stop as he does.

They try not to question his hospitality, feeling guilt when they end up doing so anyway, but they take the offer and curl up in the back with their bag clutched to their chest. They wake up to the feeling of being carried, Adachi making a quiet remark of ‘holy shit you’re light’, before he carries them through the open house door.

It is far too easy to fall back asleep. They wake up a few times however still; the first time is when Adachi puts them into their bed and then walks out to call Chisato to let her know Yu comes home early today. The next is to the intermittent sound of some footfalls as Chisato and Nanako come back home hours later and then simply roam around like normal (even as the two try their best not to wake them up). The final time they wake up is when Chisato tells them their friends and Uchida are here and they sit up on their bed, looking like a mess while still wearing their school clothes while their aunt lets people filter in.

“Partner!” Yosuke says while he walks up to them, “you’re looking better now - don’t push yourself like that ever again.” he is the one who sits next to Yu, a hand on their thigh and they blink blearily. Naoto suggests that Yosuke lets Yu wash their face at least and they are thankful for her suggestion. They come back, still tired but now able to see and everyone is staring at them.

Uchida and Naoto are clad in their detective outfits whereas the rest are dressed normally. The only one looking out of place is… Yu.

“I’m in an actual meeting with you guys,” Rise murmurs when everyone settles in, “this is weird. Is it supposed to feel weird? It’s - I normally used to have meetings for work and - does this count as work?”

Yukiko places a soothing hand on her shoulder. “You’ll get used to it, and this isn’t for work, okay? We’re friends first and foremost. We should, however, focus on Yu-kun right now. It seems like he has something important to say.”

“Yeah! Speaking of - what’s wrong, boss?” Kanji asks, eyebrows knitting together, “Chie-senpai said ya wanted us t’meet up with ya, and that you were sick earlier, weren’t’cha?”

“It must be serious if you wanted officer Uchida here.” Naoto prompts.

Yukiko sits demurely on a chair that Chisato brings up at some point, trying to accommodate everyone even though Naoto and Uchida refuse to sit down. Chie as well looks too restless to sit. Kanji’s on the floor, Rise next to him with her knees drawn up, and Yosuke sits next to them when Yu goes back down onto the bed. Their nerves burn and spark with lightning and ice.

Well, the only thing they can do is just simply, honestly, blurt it out:

“I can watch the Midnight Channel without it having to rain and I saw my cousin on it, and I’m scared and I don’t want her to be kidnapped and you can be mad at me later because she’s barely eight and I’m _scared. I’m really scared._”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to quickly apologise and admit that I have been extremely busy outside of this fanfic and this week has been extremely hectic because of it. As well, I forgot what I was going to initially _do_ with this arc. Not because I wasn't interested, I'm just scatterbrained and forgot because of the stress.


	46. Chapter 44

The silence that follows after their declaration is expected - everyone looks at them like they sprout a second head, everyone except for Uchida who simply looks at them patiently. Just as she says silent, of course, the others are busy trying to understand what they are saying. The first part that seems to register is Yu’s belief that Nanako is the next victim - their faces twist grimly, each of them showing varying degrees of worry and confusion. It takes a full minute before their other statement sinks in -

“You can _see _the Midnight Channel without rain?” Chie says, brows furrowing and her lips a flat, stiff line, “it’d be really stupid of me if I like, said you’re lying after everything we’ve been through but… why? Why now? And since _when?_”

They sink a little. “I’m sure he’s got a reason for this,” Yosuke says, though the hurt in his eyes makes their heart tighten, almost crushed by their expanding lungs. “You… do have an explanation, right, partner?”

Their hands clench on their lap, still within their school uniform, hair a mess, and their eyes surrounded by thick shadows of insomnia. Uchida looks at them carefully, probably deciding to stay out of the business of teenagers and leaving them to their own dilemma, and Yu wishes - for a moment - that she will interfere and stop everyone from staring at them so intently.

“Yu-senpai,” Naoto says while she steps up, her arms crossing in front of her and her gaze sharp, “would you mind answering a few questions for me first?” they nod their head but keep their eyes on their feet. “This may seem repetitive, but could you confirm this for me? We all believed that we could only watch the Midnight Channel while it was raining, with an attempt made by me once to see if it was accessible at any other time. You, however, claim you can see it without the rain.”

They nod their head. Naoto rubs her chin and continues on, “could you tell us for how long you were aware of this ability?”

They tilt their head to the side, “some time… some time before Kanji-san was thrown into the TV world.” Kanji’s head shoots up when they mention him, his gaze that of a boy trying to keep up with the odd news that Yu shares.

Naoto seems as inquisitive as ever. She doesn’t look at them like they hurt her for not saying anything but instead like they are something to be taken apart just to figure out how they are made. The rest are all quiet, as though they are waiting for Naoto to say something else in their place. They can understand the silence - they just give away a huge piece of information in one burst after looking like hell all day. Everyone seems to be waiting, everyone except for Rise.

Rise chews on her nail, looking around nervously before she speaks up before Naoto does, who is more content to just stare at Yu.

“Yu-kun, if… if you don’t mind me asking,” Rise says, her voice taking on a more polite and reserved tone, “but… how did you learn to do that? I mean, you never would have a reason to look, right? And you didn’t tell anyone else, either. Maybe - maybe I don’t have room to talk, because I’ve barely been here, but from what I’ve seen, anyone really seems to like you.” they look her evenly in the eyes and she gazes back a little uncertainly. “It just feels like… no one knows what to say. I don’t know you like they do, so…”

They smile gently at her - even if Rise seems a little bit nervous, only having gone with them on a scant few runs through the TV world. Her enthusiasm is appreciated, though they also cannot help but be proud of her for being able to talk to Yu when she still expresses worry over taking up their time.

“I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t know them as well as I do now.” Yu answers honestly, their gazing fixed on Rise just so that they avoid looking at everyone else. “I have my own reasons for it, but - I… learned this…” they hesitate for only a second, take one look at Yosuke, and then immediately gaze back towards Rise. “I learned this from a-” yet when they try to say who it is their throat constricts - it - oh _god, it hurts, it hurts. _Their hands fly up to their throat and they curl over, palm pressing down against it.

Yosuke is by their side immediately, Uchida rushing in after, and they both hold Yu up while trying to get them to ‘spit’ out the thing lodged in their throat. The only thing they can do is gag and choke, shaking as they do - their eyes bulge, wet cough throwing saliva in a messy pattern onto the floor, and Yu curls and hugs themself when their fit comes to an end. They still cannot stop coughing, even as Chie rushes down to get a glass of water and Rise’s hands fly up to cover her mouth. The cool water burns them from the inside while paradoxically soothing the pain.

“You probably didn’t know this would happen, did you, Yu-kun?” Yukiko says and they look up at her while wiping the tears away from their eyes. They shake their head. “… then… that doesn’t matter. What matters is that your little cousin is going to get kidnapped.”

Chie frowns at the floor, “is there any way you can prove that? Like - what if you’re just being paranoid?”

“I have a suggestion for us, how about it?” Uchida’s voice rings out and immediately commands everyone’s attention, her gaze a bit more serious than joyful. “There are two TVs in this house which makes everything easier - this tiny one in Narukami-san’s room, and the normal one downstairs with Chisato and Nanako-chan will be our tools. Satonaka-san, Kujikawa-san and Amagi-san will come downstairs with me to watch the TV at Midnight. The rest will stay up here and watch Narukami-san’s TV. Meaning, Tatsumi, Hanamura, and Shirogane will be upstairs. Is that fair?”

Everyone lets out a unified ‘yes’. Rise speaks up soon after, “what if we all stayed here and hung out with Yu-kun and his family today?” she says, “I wanna hang out with Nanako-chan and Dojima-san!”

They think to the fact that Nanako will love seeing Rise and they concede, letting them know that that is a fine suggestion. It’s quite late in the afternoon now, bordering on evening, which means that they don’t have to worry much about wasting time.

The speed at which Rise rushes downstairs to try and see Yu’s cousin for herself is staggering and that prompts a startled laugh out of Yukiko which eases the tension out of the atmosphere. “Okay, I’ll go downstairs with Rise-chan and make sure nothing happens.”

“I’m coming with!” Chie cries out before she grabs at Kanji and hauls him downstairs much to his loud protestations. Yosuke and Naoto linger behind while Uchida claims that she will work on some reports, goes downstairs to briefly talk to her best friend, then presumably sets to work.

Yu looks down at their feet, their bed dipping a little when Yosuke sits next to them and Naoto looks around their room before bowing her head and stepping out.

“Hey, you sure you’re okay?” Yosuke says after a silence that is a second too long,

They peer up at him curiously. He doesn’t seem upset or hurt any more, mostly worried. “… I’m sorry I kept this from you and everyone else for so long,” they start only to be stopped when Yosuke brings an arresting hand up.

“It’s okay.” he says pensively, “I trust you, partner. I know you got a tonna shit going on in that head of yours, right?” he looks ahead and stares at Yu’s otherwise messy desk. “Whatever your reasons are, they’re probably stuff that you thought on a lot, didn’t you?”

For some reason that they can’t comprehend nor stop themself over, Yu leans into Yosuke’s side and nearly causes him to jump out of his skin. Despite the fact that he isn’t as wide as Kanji or as athletic as Kou, there is something comforting still in Yosuke’s broad frame. It feels nice to hide their face into his sleeve, just taking in slow, deep breaths to calm their nerves.

“You’re… leaning on me.” Yosuke says disbelievingly. Yu just hums and nods into his shoulder. “… You know, you probably didn’t think I’d notice but, you don’t like being touched do you? Or touching other people.”

Yu pulls back a little just so that their voice isn’t muffled. “You really noticed?” Yu questions and Yosuke huffs in amusement, a sweet, small smile on his face, “you’re right. I really was hoping that it wouldn’t be obvious, but you’re right. But right now, I’m tired. I’m tired, everything’s overwhelming, and I don’t know what’s going on - no one will tell me, no one knows. It’s _tiring. _I’m barely eighteen and - and look at what I’m doing. And I’m not the first, nor last, person who’ll do this.

“I want this, everything to stop. I want people to stop being thrown into the TV world, I want the fog to go away, I want my family to be happy. I wish my mom and dad were here, I want to see them. I wish my uncle was alive with my auntie, I want her to stop working so hard. I’m scared. I’m not. I’m tired. And I’m talking too much.”

Yosuke stares ahead then, after a brief moment of pause, he hovers an arm above Yu and they simply lean into him again, eyes closing. He takes that as quiet permission to wrap his arm around Yu and cradle them close, rubbing his hand up and down.

“Then, stop talking. Stop thinking about all those stuff, too. We’re here for you, and even if you don’t wanna tell us anything we’ll always help you. I’ll always be here for you. Maybe just focus on something that makes you happy?”

It will probably embarrass them too much to ever say it out loud… but being here with all their friends, being comfortable to lean against Yosuke, having everyone support them is what makes them happy. Hearing Yosuke’s breathing, watching the faint rise and fall of his chest, hearing Nanako’s excited yell when she realises Risette is here, the laughter downstairs… this is peace.

This really, truly is peace.

* * *

Yosuke leaves to go downstairs first and Yu takes that as time to finally change out of their uniform and put something comfortable on. For a moment, they consider putting on long pants before then throwing that idea away when they realise how warm the house is and they shove themself into a pair of shorts and a comfortable, loose shirt. They check on their binder, readjust it to make sure it isn’t too tight or constricting, then make their way downstairs.

The first thing they notice is Nanako staring at Rise with barely held-back awe before she notices Yu and practically _rockets _over to them. They catch her as she pounces up to them and Yu holds her close, cradling her protectively.

“Hiya, Nana-chan,” they say gently, “You met Rise-san, huh?”

She gasps, “that’s Risette! Cousin! She’s _Risette! _She’s really here! You’re her friend?! Really!? You’re really her friend? She says you’re her friend!”

They laugh kind-heartedly and gives her a kiss on the forehead, “yes, Nana-chan, she’s my friend.” they carry her back over to everyone else, smiling widely as they do. It seems she finally realises that there are others here when she looks at their group of friends and she shyly hides her face in their collar. They sit down cross-legged with her still in their arms. “Nana-chan, can I introduce you to my friends properly? Is that okay?”

She nods. “I need you to look for me to introduce them.” they say gently and she eventually lifts her head up to peek at them. “This is Chie-chan, she likes kung-fu movies and maybe you can even talk to her a ton about your favourite TV shows.”

“Really?” Nanako looks at Chie properly, “does she know kung-fu? I wanna learn kung-fu if she does! Can she teach me?”

Chie, looking like her heart is melting, answers immediately, “of course! I know how to defend myself a little, and I’ll gladly teach you how to fight too if you wanna! You just gotta ask your mommy first, okay?”

“Yay!”

“I’d prefer if she went to an actual class,” Chisato says from the kitchen, having caught onto their conversation while she prepares something for them all to eat while they stay over. When Yu tries to set Nanako down to help her, she just glares and they sheepishly settle back down. “Sorry, Chie-chan.”

Nanako seems happy that she’s going to be put into a kung-fu class, so Yu just smiles and keeps going. They introduce everyone one by one, with Nanako saying loudly that Yukiko is pretty, calling Kanji’s style ‘cool! Like anime!’ and then calling Yosuke ‘big brother’ because he is Yu’s best friend, prompting a blush from him. Nanako looks at Naoto, takes a second, then yells when she recognises her as the detective prince. She tugs at Yu’s shirt, speaking loudly about how cool their cousin is for being friends with those two.

The rest of the day goes like that - Nanako warms up to everyone over time and everyone is gentle with her, trying to engage in her interests while Yu watches them all. Eventually, they stand up to go help Chisato much to her chagrin though they cannot help but keep smiling every time they glance over to Nanako having fun with their friends.

That happiness still doesn’t erase the fact that they need to protect her from the sick fuck who wants to kidnap her for whatever twisted reason that that person has. When they set all the food down and everyone is eating, Chisato helps Nanako upstairs so that she can sleep when their little cousin starts yawning and says she isn’t hungry. She apparently ate a little before they all came down, so she will be fine.

After that, Uchida immediately sets to explaining everything to Chisato - their plan at least. Everyone stares at her in wide-eyed shock but Chisato just nods along and listens to her attentively brow furrowing and lips trembling as she tries to keep her composure in the face of the claim that her daughter will be kidnapped. She asks a few questions, her grip on her utensils a little too harsh, and they all glance among one another while Chisato and Uchida speak.

“You have my permission to use the downstairs TV, then. Just try not to be too loud, okay? I don’t mind if I wake up, but I don’t want Nanako to wake up because of it.”

“We’ll try.” Uchida says, a comforting hand coming onto Chisato’s. She squeezes. “You don’t have to be scared, okay? No matter what happens, I’ll always have your back. The Kuzunoha agency promises it.”

Chisato grins. “Alright, devil summoner,” she shakes her head, “I’m going to clean up and read until I’m tired. All of you, rest well. Thank you for taking care of Yu-kun!”

“Auntie…”

After confirming everyone already calls their parents to let them know where each person is, Chisato bids them and their friends goodnight before going upstairs.

They spend a little more time together before eventually trying to waste time until midnight comes. Yu and their group go upstairs while the rest stay downstairs - there will be no rain tonight, even if there will be quite the cold wind. The clock ticks slowly, a minute left until midnight, and their friends huddle around them. Yu stares at the dinky old TV in their room, hands on their lap as they sit seiza before the TV screen.

The clock strikes midnight. Static plays on the TV and shocks the other three with them. On the screen, like any other Midnight Channel, the same scene plays: Nanako holding the hand of the butterfly masked man and the sheer despair that emanates from the man’s body. When the screen clicks off, the other four come upstairs and Naoto quietly relays their findings.

Uchida and her group don’t see anything downstairs. Those with Yu do.

And however they learn to do this, Yu cannot share.

They huddle around each other once the news settles. “I’ll make sure to patrol around the area whenever Nanako-chan and Chisato come home,” Uchida says, “the best thing you kids can do is stay vigilant and, if some of you want to, visit Narukami-kun more often to make sure nothing happens.” Naoto nods along with that statement, as though she agrees. “Because Shirogane-kun only has to answer to me, she can come over more often than the rest of you can and keep a police presence here. We don’t know _when _the perpetrator will strike, so we’ll do our best.

“I’m going to have Adachi-kun be the one to keep an eye on the task force while I’m patrolling the area. There’s no guarantee on what will happen, but we’ll be here for you, Yu-kun. I won’t let _anything _happen to Nanako.”

They hope so. They don’t know what will happen to Chisato if she loses a daughter alongside a husband - they don’t want to think about it so they instead just tell everyone to go to sleep. There are futons already rolled along, having been done so earlier when Yu tells Chisato that their friends want to stay over, and Yu has both a bed and tiny sofa that people can sleep on. There is the sofa downstairs, too.

Hopefully everyone sleeps well.

They dream of that fake Adachi again. They dream of that man in the butterfly mask. They dream of someone with long, silver hair and dull red eyes, dressed in traditional, worn kimono and their skin a deep, dark grey. They dream of a nightmare they mostly forget, save for the one line spoken by that silver-haired person:

_“You have the power to do -----------------------------------. Use it.”_


	47. Chapter 45

They are back within the land of fog, again. Pressure rains down upon them, demanding them to kneel and beg to the heavens for freedom and release. That silver-haired person is standing there again, with their red dull eyes and uncaring gaze. Despite staring right at the person, they cannot comprehend that person’s facial features – save for their red eyes and their dull, dull gaze. Have they seen this person before? They have, but they have not. Yes, and no. Where? Nowhere, when? Never.

“You have the power to ---------------------.” the person says, then they swear the person smiles sardonically. But there is no face for them to see, what are they thinking? “You have the power to -------------------------. Over and over, I say this, but you cannot hear.” the person looks up – their voice is familiar. Where they have heard it? They have heard it before. They have. “Look at how far you’ve come. Look at how much you’ve grown. What becomes of you, now? What will you do?” they stare, and stare. The person stares back with their hazy face. “Look at how much you’ve changed. But what will you do, in the end? What will you do?”

The person reaches out. They try to turn, only for their feet to be rooted in place. They try to scream, only to find their lips stitched shut. Hands wrap around their throat again, this time of a stranger instead of a familiar face. Pressure builds and builds, their head spins –

Is this how they die?

Is this how they-

They awake to Yosuke shaking them, his hand clammy around their shoulder and lash out and slam their own palm against his chest to get him to stop. “What?” they croak out when they finally sit up and sink back down into the world of the living.

He looks at them with a worried gaze, a frown on his face before he takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly. “You were having a nightmare,” he says softly and it takes them some time to realise that everyone else is still asleep, “you were sweating real hard, Yu, and you were making some real weird noises. You woke me up.”

They open their mouth to apologise but are stopped immediately when Yosuke places a shushing finger atop their lips. “Just go back to sleep,” he says, “it’s two in the morning.”

When they wake up again, it is to the fact that everyone is stumbling over themselves to try and get ready for school. Some of them actually bring their uniforms with them when they come over, mostly Naoto, Yukiko, and oddly enough Kanji. They all share the same strange philosophy of always having extra clothes with them.

“Me and Yosuke-senpai are closer in height and sizes than Yu-senpai is to either of us,” Kanji grumbles while he looks through his backpack for an extra uniform for Yosuke to wear, “so ya don’t gotta worry ‘bout givin’ either of us some spares, a’right, boss?”

“And Chie can wear my spare uniform too.” Yukiko says casually, “I don’t think Naoto-kun’s uniform will fit either of us, and Chie likes the girl’s uniform more anyway.” she shrugs and Chie just blushes a little bit. For a reason they won’t explain, they are happy for those two girls.

This means that thankfully everyone is ready to head out for school – Yosuke with his bike, Kanji and Naoto tagging along with Yu and auntie Chisato, and Yukiko and Chie just decide to head off to school together.

Rise is the only one who doesn’t go to school with them, though Yu tells her she is welcome to stay at their home if her parent and auntie Chisato lets her. “It’s okay, I’d prefer to be working right now anyway. Officer Uchida’s still here, right? She can drive me back to my auntie and uncle’s place.”

With all that settled, Yu has to fight back the urge to grab onto Nanako and refuse to let her go to school when she hops down the stairs, dressed and raring to go. The fog is as dense as ever and Yu prays, to anyone who listens, that everything will be fine.

The rest of the day goes by as usual and they wait for Nanako outside of her school, hands clutching their bag anxiously. When she tells them that no one comes to bother her today they relax minutely. Tonight is another night where their friends stay over for a sleepover, meaning that nothing happens, really. That still doesn’t erase the sheer anxiety that boils within the pit of their stomach, threatening to lurch out as stress-induced vomit.

Uchida is in their house tonight when she realises how many people are here and uses that as an excuse to do her work here. When they ask her about Adachi, she just smiles. “He agreed to lead the task force, but he complained a lot about it.” she says while nodding, “when I told him that I mostly had to do my own independent investigation for the case, though, he went quiet.”

“Do you trust Adachi-san?” Yu asks.

Uchida’s expression falters until her smile completely falls off, her expression neutral. “As an officer, he may complain but he works as he should and doesn't try to laze about. As a person, I don’t know much about Adachi-kun and we often disagree on some things, though not enough to lead to full-blown arguments. Lately, he’s mellowed out and seems calmer, but I couldn’t tell you why.”

They don’t ask about Adachi any more after that, especially when Uchida seems busy looking over paperwork and case files, rereading them over and over again to try and look for clues she may have missed. Naoto joins her eventually and their banter is interesting to listen to at times – Uchida doesn’t seem to care that Naoto is a high-school student and seems more interested in the opinions she has to share, never once flinching away from the girl when she disagrees.

Yu turns their focus back on everyone else and especially on Nanako, making sure to interact with her and make sure everyone gets along well. Rise, in specific, commands a lot of Nanako’s attention while Naoto is busy working with Uchida and Yu can’t help but smile at the enthusiasm their little cousin shows.

Her joy is obvious and overwhelming yet Rise takes it in stride, playing out some of Nanako’s favourite Risette scenes and she always gasps and laughs happily. Eventually, auntie Chisato has to pick Nanako up and carry her upstairs when she starts showing signs of exhaustion.

“Thank you for being so nice to Nana-chan,” Yu says when all their friends gather around again, Uchida excusing herself to go home now that it is quite late, “she looks really happy to see you guys, and I’m really grateful. Thank you so much!” Yu bows before everyone, hands folding in front of them.

“Yo, senpai, this is – ahhh man, ya don’t gotta bow like that, y’know? Ain’t bad hangin’ out with you and Nanako-chan, like – it ain’t a chore.” Kanji says after clearing his throat, “you become like a whole other person when she’s ‘round, and it’s nice t’see.”

Yukiko giggles and it is by her prompting that they finally stand up straight. “He’s right, you know. Nanako-chan is a great bundle of joy.”

“We’ll do our best to protect her!” Chie cries out with a victorious fist bump, though she gets smacked on the back of the head by Yosuke.

“Dude! Nanako-chan’s trying to _sleep!_” he hisses and she glares at him, though stays quiet regardless.

Tonight is a nice night.

The following few days are rather uneventful, with Naoto staying over once or twice while the rest do their own thing as usual. For a moment, Yu wonders if anything will happen – they can’t be on guard constantly, after all. They still can’t relax, either. Who knows what will happen the moment they relax, even for a second?

It is on the fifth night that something goes wrong.

Naoto isn’t here today, opting to be in the car alongside Uchida instead, and Nanako and Chisato are downstairs as usual. Yu sits on the sofa in the living room and reads a book to pass the time, their mind dull with boredom. They already finished their homework some time ago and they feel pretty prepared for whatever school has to throw their way, so they aren’t that stressed. After a while they excuse themself to go upstairs to the bathroom, maybe even change into something else because they feel a little too cold, and Chisato just waves them off.

The doorbell rings out just as Yu finishes up doing their business and washing up, they pause for a moment and strain to pay attention, and then jolt into action when they hear auntie Chisato’s words:

“I didn’t order for anything – wait, get your hands off of me! _Get your hands off me!_”

They stumble down just in time for them to witness Chisato get knocked out and fall to her side, blood oozing down her forehead. Nanako screams upon seeing that and Yu tries to dive in to catch her only to feel something heavy slam against their side – it isn’t a person, but rather a box full of _something _and they choke on their own saliva from the blow. They crash against the TV and then land, hard, onto the floor alongside the now broken TV and curl up, pain rushing through their body and their gaze uncertain, head dizzy and made of lead.

“Cousin!” Nanako screams, her voice getting louder and more panicked as the deliveryman grabs her. They manage to get one peek at his face while he tries to wrangle Nanako’s struggling, shrieking form, and Yu’s eyes widen.

Despite them not seeing him that often, even they cannot forget the face of the man who leads to Yamano Mayumi’s disgrace. Even they cannot forget the man who falls in love with someone not his wife. Even with their gaze as blurry as it is, they can still make out who it is. They grit their teeth and try to drag themself forward a little bit, their head getting heavier and their body throbbing with red-hot pain as they try to get closer to the coffee table.

They grab their phone, call Naoto after a bit of struggling and their vision blurring even further, and the it connects immediately. They can’t hear her, not really, too busy staring at the disappearing form of Namatame Taro and Nanako. They croak, “the... the van.” before finally passing out, unable to hold onto waking world for much longer.

* * *

“Shit.” Naoto says, eyes wide as she stares at her phone and she puts it away. To her side is officer Uchida, sitting in the driver’s seat with a determined look. She is on the move even before Naoto says anything, making way towards the Dojima household and immediately chasing after the large black van ahead of them. “Even if we catch up, he isn’t going to stop! We can’t lose him in the fog either! What are we going to do? Should we open fire?”

Uchida takes in a deep breath, looking outside while she catches up to the van, then she looks over to Naoto with a tight expression. “The world’s changed enough that I can do this again. Don’t freak out, okay?”

“Officer?” she says, but doesn’t question her beyond that.

“Berserker!” Uchida calls out when she speeds up enough just to be slightly behind the van in the tight, squeeze of the small streets, “hear me! Stop this van, and make sure no one gets gravely injured! Nekomata, hear my voice! Make sure nothing happens to the people inside!”

Naoto watches, amazed, when she manages to catch the afterimages of _demons _within the human world – no, she can’t see them in their entirety and with as much clarity as she can in the TV world, but she can _feel _that they are here. The fog makes it hard to see yet she can see the way it disperses when two demons rush through it and then she gasps and braces herself when Uchida ends up swerving the car to its side.

The van comes to an abrupt, screeching halt, crashing into a street lamp post, and they are just barely able to keep from slamming into it. The doors of the van burst open and the vague silhouette of a catlike figure jumps out, an unconscious Nanako on her back while she runs over to their car. Uchida rushes out of the car and Naoto follows after, the officer taking Nanako into her arms before she hands her over to the younger officer and rushes to the van’s driver seat.

“Namatame Taro!” Uchida yells out while she yanks the door open, Namatame looking better than she expects and she internally congratulates Berserker on his self-control. “For the repeated acts of kidnapping and attempted murder, you are under arrest! We will be taking you to the hospital to treat your wounds, but you are now under police custody. Is that understood?!” she flashes her badge at him when he glances over to her and he laughs bitterly, hands dropping from the steering wheel.

She drags a cuffed Namatame back to the car and sees Nanako seated in the passenger seat and Naoto holding her phone. “I’ve called 119 on Yu-senpai’s house and I’ve called for backup as well. They should be arriving promptly, but...” she looks over to the unconscious Nanako, her face red and covered in sweat, then glances up towards Uchida.

“I’ll take us to the hospital. We can leave this scene to the rest of the task force and the Inaba police.” Uchida says gently, “for now, we have to make sure Nanako-chan is safe. The Dojima house is still nearby – you go and stay with Yu and Chisato to keep an eye on them. Help them as much as you can, and explain to the EMTs what happened.”

Naoto nods, watches her leave and drive off to the hospital in a rush and, to her relief, cop cars are quick to arrive. She tells everyone what she needs to do and, despite his usual uncaring nature, Adachi is the one who tags along with her to the Dojima household.

The door is hanging open when they arrive there and the inside doesn’t look any better. Adachi kneels by Chisato’s side, his expression twisting briefly and making him look utterly gutted – only for his face to smooth out when he notices Naoto staring at him. The two of them set about to making sure that Yu and Chisato aren’t just laying on the floor when the EMTs arrive – they are careful to make sure that the two of them are placed on soft services that won’t jostle them too much.

Adachi pauses when he sees blood on Chisato’s forehead and slowly wipes it clean, looking for something to stop the flow of blood while the two of them wait. He sits next to where Yu lays, Naoto standing by the door with her arms crossed. For a moment, when she peeks over to Adachi and their unconscious companions, she swears she sees him stroking along Yu’s forehead and caressing his hair.

She makes sure to look outside as to not be caught and she looks up towards the moon, hidden behind thick grey, and wonders if this is really how it ends; not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Somehow, she doubts it.


	48. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a very difficult chapter to write and I don't even know why.

There are a lot of beeps around them… what is going on…? Oh - their head kind of… feels dull. Everything in the room is blurry, colours melting together while they try to get used to the world around them. They groan and shift around, blinking rapidly in an attempt to adjust to the light around them.

“Yu?” a familiar voice calls out and - they close their eyes, shake their head only for a hand to stop it, and they rapidly blink a few times until their vision is clearer. Adachi’s eyes stare into their own and they have to fight back the urge to rip themself away, though he does let go of them and backs away, giving them space to breathe. “You shouldn’t move too much. Doc said it ain’t good for a kid like you just recovering from a concussion.”

They still try to sit up which leads to Adachi pressing down on their shoulders, trying to keep them from jostling their head even further. “Look, kid, I know it’s fun to sometimes contradict and not listen to what other people tell ya, but this is doctor’s orders.” they stare at him for a little longer before finally settling back down, staring at him still. Their body feels as heavy as a boulder now that they think about it, actually focus on themself, and they look down to see that they are simply on the bed with no IV drips or anything.

As though reading their mind, Adachi continues talking, “doctor said he supposed you would’ve woken up next morning - you most likely got off with a mild concussion and you’d be lucky if you didn’t have any other injuries. They don’t think it’s anything too bad, but y’gotta take a few tests. Did’ja know you got a box of metal thrown at you? You should hopefully only have a few sore looking bruises.”

“Metal?” Yu says, furrowing their brow while they look at Adachi, “what do- auntie Chisato!” they gasp and Adachi has to press them down again, trying to keep them from jolting out of the bed, “is she okay? Where’s my auntie and Nana-chan? Are they okay? Adachi!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, breathe, breathe.” he shushes gently, keeping Yu on the bed still, “she just got her examination done. The guy just knocked her out so she’s fine, and Nanako-chan passed out from the stress and shock of the situation. They’re both okay. You’re the one that got the brunt of things, mostly.”

Yu takes in a deep breath and tries to calm their nerves, their eyes slipping shut when they relax against the hospital cot - it is better than anything and at least they aren’t on the ground any more. “Ah… My body’s kinda numb.” Yu says after a while and Adachi glances over at them before back down to a tray next to their cot.

“Prob’ly the painkillers. You had a nasty fall, kid.” he ruffles his own hair and refuses to look into Yu’s eyes, “… I’m sorry this had’ta happen, Yu.” he says softly, sounding more vulnerable than they expect, and they try to shift back a little so that they are leaning more against the wall. Adachi doesn’t notice, or doesn’t say anything at least. “I don’t know what I’d done if Chisato or Nanako or-”

“You don’t have to say my name.” Yu says softly and - wow, their throat feels dry. Not a thing to worry about right now, probably. “You don’t know me as well as you do auntie Chisato and Nanako-chan.” they close their eyes, missing the way Adachi looks at them with such an indescribable look.

If they look at him right now then they would see conflict dance within his eyes. They would see his face twist oddly, looking at their figure on their bed. Alongside the many things they do not notice, they they would also not know that Adachi quietly convinces the doctors to talk about Yu as though they are a boy, and not a girl the doctors assume Yu to be. Not even officer Uchida knows, he makes sure of that.

Instead, Adachi gives an apologetic smile when Yu opens their eyes again and looks into his face. “I’d still worry for you if something awful happened to you, Yu-kun.” he looks over at the door, his hands wringing together and his thumb rubs a slow circle on his palm, and he releases a deep, mouthy exhale. “I’ll go get the doctor for you so he can look you over.” he reaches over to Yu then freezes. His hand hovers nearby Yu’s shoulder, fingers splayed out towards them, and they stare at Adachi blankly.

His hand retreats. He comes to a stand and wipes imaginary dust off, his eyes still on the ground, and Yu doesn’t know what he wants them to say. “Adachi-san?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” he shakes his head. “Just… thinking. I didn’t expect Nanako-chan to get hurt, ever. I was hoping… I was hoping she’d never get hurt.”

Yu furrows their brow - something about the way he words that statement feels… off. But, then again, it does feel like the concern of someone who doesn't want children to see the worst of adult life, right? Besides, the kidnap -Namatame Taro has been rather unpredictable with who he does or does not target. Nothing is to say a child is off the table.

Swallowing the unwanted lump in their throat down, Yu tries their best to smile at Adachi when he moves to leave the room. He dawdles by the door for a moment before groaning in agitation at himself and slamming the door behind him when he leaves. Yu, unsure of what to make of that scene, decides that it is best they just go to sleep and wait for either a nurse or doctor to wake them up and take their tests.

They don’t know how long they sleep for, probably not long, but a female doctor comes in soon enough and begins taking some tests - mostly to check and make sure that Yu’s cognitive abilities aren’t actually affected by the blow they take. She jots a few notes down, seemingly satisfied with Yu’s ability to remember and concentrate and understand very simple comprehension questions. She continues to jot notes down while making Yu do basic activities to indicate their hearing and vision are fine, their reflexes aren’t impaired, and they don’t have a loss of balance.

Dizzy? Yes. But unbalanced? No.

She prescribes some painkillers for Yu while she explains what is wrong: they are otherwise fine, healthy really, but the fall and the box of TV components being thrown at them will definitely cause bruises and a few problems with day to day life. Otherwise, their body should be able to heal all of this naturally and they won’t have to worry.

“Your aunt has recovered as well,” the doctor says when Yu asks, “she was released some hours ago, however she cannot take you home yet. The police wish to speak to you for a moment - an officer Uchida, more specifically.” Yu just nods quietly and the doctor gets back to her work.

If they show any worse symptoms then they will have to come back to the hospital but they are otherwise healthy and fine based off of her evaluation. She stands up, nods at Yu, then informs them that the officer will be arriving soon. They don’t have to wait long once the doctor leaves as officer Uchida walks in mere moments later, an apologetic smile on her face.

“Hey, Yu-kun, how’s everything holding up?” she says and takes a seat next to Yu, her hands on her lap and her gaze ever apologetic.

“Well…” they shrug then indicate to the room and Uchida has the sense to look a little sheepish at her question. “But I do genuinely feel fine. I would’ve thought I’d be worse off, or something.”

With that, Uchida’s expression suddenly changes. She looks at them gravely and Yu cannot help the sinking sensation within their stomach. She gets up and pushes something up against the door of Yu’s room to make sure no one comes in to interrupt them and she sits down next to their bed again. Chewing on her lower lip, she ponders over what she wishes to actually say to them before saying and running a hand through her hair.

“I’m a Devil Summoner,” Uchida says with a blank expression on her face, “that means that I’m not like you nor your friends, who are Persona Summoners. Years ago, during an event you don’t really need to know much about, the barrier between the human and demon world fell apart. Demons slipped through and no one but us summoners could see them at first, until it all fell away and we had to stop the threat of the month. This happens far too often.

“Normally, when the barrier’s strong, I can’t really summon my demons.” she looks at Yu and they stare back, a slow realisation dawning on them. “You probably get what I’m saying, but just to be make it clear… I can summon my demons again, even if you can’t see them completely. They’re still here, I can still use them_. _That was how I stopped Namatame Taro, and how I was able to heal you back to a better state.”

Yu stares at her with wide eyes and an open mouth and she decides to further prove her point by summoning a High Pixie. Though her form is a little hard to see as she flows into existence above Uchida, Yu can most definitely see the High Pixie and they just stare at her until she finally slips back inside of Uchida.

“We’re running out of time.” Yu says grimly and they sit up, bring their hands up and bury their face in their palm. “Why is this-”

“--happening to you?” Uchida finishes for them and Yu looks up and something in their face makes her own twist in sympathy. “Sometimes, the world just… is that way. You aren’t the first one to be swept up into strange, insane, supernatural happenings that no one but you, or a handful of other people, can explain or work on.” she shakes her head, “everyone called you a Conduit, didn’t they?”

Yu nods their head slowly and Uchida continues on, “whether you like it or not, you have a duty now, Yu-kun, and it isn’t one that you have to do alone.”

_“I’m here to make you a deal, and to hopefully convince you not to go. Because if you do, then the _ _ world will begin to end. _ _”_

“You have the Kuzunoha agency’s best detective on your side, you have all these wonderful persona users, you’re not alone.”

_“You and _ _ Minako _ _ were the same that way, always thinking _ _ you could save the world. _ _”_

“But you have to see through this to the end.”

_“You agree that you shape your destiny, and that failure or success are valid outcomes.”_

They look down at their hands, unable to look Uchida in the eyes. Tears sting at their own and they curl up even further, clench the sheets of the hospital bed tightly, and their shoulders shake. A gentle hand rests on their back, rubbing soothing circles while tears drip down and form little puddles on the hospital sheet.

“This is all my fault.” they force out and Uchida just hushes them and lets them cry. Once their pathetic display is done and over with, Uchida tells them that they are going to call Chisato and have her pick Yu up and take them home, then mentions that she is going to be busy interrogating Namatame Taro for a while. Officer Uchida gives them the promise that she will come back as soon as she can with the results of the investigation and what the police chief will say, and whether or not this is enough to officially close the case to the general public.

Not a lot of things line up properly, the first two kidnappings are still unexplained, and they both agree that Namatame Taro is but a singular piece in a larger puzzle. This is most definitely not the end of their investigations, and Uchida will probably have to stay longer to find the ‘real’ culprit. After that conversation is done, she tells Yu to just wait until Chisato comes over so that she can take them home and then bids farewell.

She ruffles their hair before pushing the block of the door aside and makes her leave, wishing Yu the best while she does. They hope that by the time their auntie gets here that they look nice and presentable and not like they cried recently.

Auntie Chisato rushes to the hospital once she gets the news and by the time she arrives, they thankfully look more presentable and just look tired. She sits with the doctor who comes in again some time later, listening to explanations and recommendations. Yu can only stare at her, taking in the new scar on her forehead. She promises that this won’t take long when she sits down with the sheets next to them, hospital paperwork in hand for Yu to fill out. They are an adult, after all, and Chisato is just here to mostly make sure Yu is fine.

The familiar sense of dull unease sinks in again when they have to fill in the hospital paperwork. This isn’t the first time they have to do it but it doesn’t make any less odd - not easy, for this is in the end a sheet of paper that shouldn’t amount to anything. It just feels odd, _is _odd. Hopefully, they will be able to strip this paper of whatever meaning it holds.

After a few more evaluations, Yu finally gets to sit in the back seat of the car and not stare at white walls, thinking over their failure as a person and inability to heed a warning.

“Is Nana-chan okay?” Yu asks after a few minutes of driving and Chisato almost jumps.

“Yes, she’s fine. She just got tired out because she was scared and shocked, but I’m going to try and find a child councillor to make sure she’s completely okay. But… how are you? You took the worst out of all of us.”

They rub their head and sit up properly, “I’m okay.” they say after a while, “I… auntie? Is it okay if I tell you something?”

“Of course, Yu. What’s wrong?”

Swallowing and trying not to cry again, Yu rubs at their eyes and shakes, “w-what if… what if this is all my fault?” they manage out, their voice breaking on the last word, “what if this was all my fault? What if - if I never came here, then this would have never happened? What -”

“But you can’t change that, dear.” Chisato says softly, calmly, “I know you’re upset and right now I wish I could hug you, and tell you that everything is okay. You’re in this world right now, and you are still here, the only thing you can do is fix everything up, do your best to make up for whatever mistakes you think you did.”

Yu sniffles. “You don’t blame me for you being attacked?”

“No, I never could, and I never will.” Chisato says firmly and she turns to look at Yu while they are both in a red light. “You’re my dearest nibling, Yu. No matter what happens to you, no matter what you did, I’ll always try and see the best in you.” she gazes back to the road when cars begin to hum back into life, her own rolling along with the traffic. “The person who attacked me wasn’t you, after all. I would never blame you for that.”

They look down at their lap, curl their hands on the seat, and just stare into nothingness while Chisato drives them around.

“Can I have some good news?” Yu asks and Chisato makes a noise of confusion, “it can be anything. I just want something that isn’t - isn’t what I was told in the hospital.”

“By the… doctor?”

“No, by officer Uchida.”

Her name seems to bring gravitas to their words as Chisato stays silent, knowing that whatever Uchida tells them is because of the supernatural and nothing that she can contribute to or understand. “Will you tell me what she said, at least?”

“... when all my friends are there, too, yes.” Yu says while they twiddle their thumbs together, “I don’t want to leave them out of important information, though I don’t think officer Uchida will let me either way.” they look up at her through the front view mirror. “… why weren’t my friends at the hospital?”

Chisato chuckles and Yu tilts their head curiously. “Uchida gave them an earful when they tried to burst into your room while you were unconscious and she threatened to suplex each and every one of them as punishment. She said that if they didn’t go back home and just wait and relax, she’d also pinch their ears twenty times.”

“Ouch.”

“Yep! Made them listen, though. I bet they must be worried sick for you. That Hanamura boy, especially.”

“Yosuke-san?”

“Yes, him. Even though everyone else was worried, he looked like he was about ready to cry. You’re a very lucky person to have a friend like him, Yu.”

They believe that, they absolutely do. The moment they get home, they promise they will call him and let him know they’re okay. Shifting a little bit, Yu sits up, looks out the window, and then says, “is there anything else you can tell me that’s normal? I don’t want to hear about how people are worried for me, or that the world is changing, or that demons are coming in or - or any of that. I just want some normal information.”

“Hmm…” Chisato taps her fingers onto her steering wheel for a second before she lets out an ‘oh!’ of recognition. “I forgot to tell you this, and I’m sorry for it, but just the day before this happened, I got a call from the organisers of the maths tournament.” she says and smiles widely, even though they cannot see it, and says in a cheerful voice, “congratulations, Yu-chan. You got first place.”

They look up at her in a moment of confusion before giving a small smile. What she has to say is rather boring and not something they particularly care for but it is what they want after all: something mundane After everything they’ve been through, the mundane really does feel like a breath of fresh air instead of something to be bored over.

“Thank you.” they say softly while rubbing at their aching eyes, “I think? I don’t know. I didn’t really care about that…”

“But you still did well, Yu-chan. I hope that helped make you feel better.”

They shrug, “maybe I can tell Nana-chan when I get home. She likes it whenever I do well in something…”

“You could take the interview too. I think she’d love to see you on TV and be like ‘my big cousin is on TV! My big cousin is on TV!’”

“... Maybe, though I think I’ll have to pass on that. Thank you, auntie. And I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“You don’t ever have to apologise for that. We’re only human in the end.”

When they get home, the first thing they do is comfort Nanako when she comes running in and hugging their legs. She rubs her face into their knees, thankful that her ‘big sibby’ is okay, and Yu kisses the top of her head. Just as their auntie says, Nanako is physically fine - she still seems shaken up by what happens, though Chisato staying with her and hugging her seems to calm her down. The promise of Yu coming home is what has her patient and waiting at home, hugging her toys to keep herself from crying now that she is all alone.

Yu hopes that she will be able to recover from this and curses Namatame in their head for doing this to her.

They call Yosuke and he answers within a milisecond of getting the call and starts yelling in their ear. He goes on incoherently about something before telling them to wait, yelling at his parents that he is going to visit his friend, and he books it and nearly forgets his phone. A few minutes later, Yu waits outside their home door and watch the outside, waiting for Yosuke to come cycling up on his bike with his signature light.

They wave at him once Yosuke arrives and he practically rockets off of his bike to wrap Yu up into a tight hug.

“You’re okay,” Yosuke says into their hair and Yu rubs his back comfortingly, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

“There’s no need to apologise for that,” Yu says into his chest, their voice muffled, “it wasn’t your fault. You don’t have to worry for me, I’ve been through worse than that in the TV world.” still, Yosuke squeezes them and seems almost scared to let go. They feel him shake in their arms and they ruffle the back of his head, “do you want to stay the night? Maybe that’ll help calm you down.”

He pulls back, his eyes red but face otherwise dry. He gives an embarrassed, shy smile, and Yu ruffles his hair again. “Is your aunt fine with that?”

“Of course she is, Yosuke-kun.”

Their words floor Yosuke for a second and he follows Yu willingly into the house when they tug at his arm. Just as expected, Chisato happily welcomes Yosuke into their house. Nanako calls out ‘big brother!’ upon seeing him and rushes up to him, her hands clinging desperately to his pant leg. Even when overjoyed, she still seems scared that Yosuke will just up and disappear, as though the bogeyman will take him away.

He stays the night with them, sleeping in the same room as Yu - even joining them on the floor when they offer Yosuke their bed. Hopefully, Uchida will contact them again shortly and Yu will be able to explain everything to them. For now, they just look into Yosuke’s sleeping face and thank whoever that blesses them with the luck to have such a kind and dedicated friend.

May this all come to an end, soon, and may everyone go back to their normal lives.


	49. Chapter 47

Coming back to school has their friends swarming them and fussing over them when lunch time arrives. Chie babbles on incoherently about whether or not Yu is okay and if they need her to break into where the police are holding Namatame so that they can beat him up. “I can’t believe - I can’t believe he was going to do that to a KID!” she says while fuming, her fists shaking rather violently, “and I can’t believe he did that to you and - ugh! Just thinking about it pisses me off!”

“We can’t really do anything about it,” Naoto says but even they can see the relief in her eyes that Yu is safe, “but should you really be coming back to school so soon?”

“Probably.” is the only thing Yu says before they eventually manage to shake everyone off and dust themself clean. Thankfully, it is lunch break so they don’t have to worry too much about being caught by a teacher. “Naoto-san, you’re probably aware of what I want to say right now, aren’t you?”

She fights back a frown but nods. Kanji scratches his chin and is the one to verbalize the question on everyone else’s minds: “what’s up, senpai? Somethin’ come up or what?”

“Officer Uchida would like to meet up with us as soon as we are able. She has been quite busy with Namatame Taro as well as the police chief because despite us catching Namatame Taro…”

“We’re not really done.” Yu finishes for her. “I’m sure you know why, so I’m not gonna go over it again. But there’s also a new problem, but one that requires all of us to talk about it.”

Naoto rubs her chin, “we’re going to be going over to Rise-san’s place so that we can discuss our issue. For now, I don’t think mentioning here would be a good idea.”

“Is it really that bad?” Chie asks, her hands on her hips, “also, like, Namatame is going to jail, right? If they let that bastard run free…”

“Please do not worry,” Naoto says, “he confessed to his crimes the moment officer Uchida walked in, so he will most definitely be going to jail… that is, if the court doesn’t rule him as incapable of seeing right or wrong.”

Yukiko tilts her head to the side, “what does that mean?”

“There’s a law which states that if the defendant is incapable of discerning whether or not their actions follow the moral norm, or what is ‘right’, then they will be charged innocent and given instead different treatment than those charged guilty. This has not happened often, so I doubt it will occur here, but it is stills something to keep in mind.”

“Did he say anything about throwing people into the TV?” Yukiko says, “because if he did, then we can say goodbye to any jail sentence that he may potentially have. People really would consider him insane for what he’s done and he would have to do something especially drastic for the law to throw him into jail.”

Naoto shakes her head, “we are in luck. He hasn’t actually said anything about the TV world to anyone else, though he also won’t come up with a fake method as to how he hid his victims. His only confession regarding that was that “if they never saw it now, then they will never understand how he saved them”.”

“Save?” Chie asks incredulously, her face twisting into an expression of barely heldback rage, “who the hell was he saving!? He threw everyone into danger! If it wasn’t for Yu-kun, then everyone after the reporter would’ve died! Who the fuck does he think he is!?”

Kanji rubs his chin, brows furrowing together and his voice breaks Chie out of her momentary rage, “d’ya think he didn’t even realise you, uh, us, we, er, the group in general were responsible for savin’ everybody from the TV world?”

“We should prob’ly save the theorizing for when we get to Rise-chan’s place, guys.” Yosuke says after the brief silence that follows after Kanji’s theory. Everyone eventually agrees on that, just in time for the bell to ring and for them to have to rush back to class, and Yu wonders how they are going to explain this issue to everyone else.

Kou manages to find them just before they leave, worry written all over his cute face, and Yu fights back a smile when he wraps his arms around them and lifts them up, inspecting them critically. “I heard you had to skip outta school because you got hospitalized. What’d ya do, Yucchi?”

They wrap their arms around his neck and bump their forehead against his, their eyes slipping shut and they just want to fall asleep right then and there. They doubt Kou will appreciate Yu just falling asleep on them.

“It’s nothing you should worry about,” Yu says softly, “but if you promise not to tell anyone else, I’ll let you know, okay?”

“I promise, Yucchi.” Kou says, bumping his head against theirs as he does, “what’s the matter? I won’t tell a single soul.”

They lick their lips, their throat feeling dry for a moment and their tongue as heavy as lead before they speak, “you know the kidnapping’s that’ve been happening lately? He tried to kidnap my cousin, and… this happened because I was trying to play hero.” they smile bitterly when they take in Kou’s surprised expression, but he has the common sense to not ask further when he notices how upset Yu looks by this.

He gently places them down, takes a step back and opens his mouth to say something only to go quiet when he notices something off in the distance. “I’ll see you some other time then, okay, Yucchi? Be safe, please.” Kou says before stepping away and leaving.

The exact moment he leaves, they hear their name being called out by Chie and they turn around, stare at the group following after them, and cannot help but dread the issue that they have to explain to everyone.

* * *

“WHAT?!” Chie shouts the moment Yu is done explaining the issue to the group, though thankfully neither Rise’s aunt nor uncle decide to come in and check on what it is that is causing her to yell. “Wait, wait, wait, so like, does this mean we can summon our personas here, then?”

Uchida rubs her chin, looking a bit thoughtful before she shakes her head. “Noooot exactly. The last time I ran into a persona user, there was a bigger crisis than ours going on at this moment. A way more powerful being than whatever it is that we are facing right now had completely torn the world apart just to settle some sort of rivalry he had with someone else, and because of that the fabric of the world was in such tatters that they could summon their personas.

“But otherwise, I don’t think you can?”

Rise rubs her hands together, looking a little uncertain, “doesn’t that mean that if demons come pouring out that the only person who will be able to deal with them will be officer Uchida?” she says, “think about it. Persona users and Devil Summoners are different, right?”

“I think by the time demons pour out,” Kanji says pensively, “we prob’ly hit the ‘shit hit the fan zone’ an’ we’re so fucked we prob’ly’re able to get our personas out to kick some ass.”

Uchida, amused by Kanji’s swearing, nods. “Yes, he’s right. I don’t think you should worry until then, but even then, keep your eyes peeled. Even if the strongest demons can’t escape, it’s still best you be cautious when you’re out in the fog alone.”

Rise leans back against the wall, her gaze elsewhere while she seems to be trying to process something. The rest are in a similar state, Yu excluded given that Uchida tells them this information already.

“How has Namatame’s interrogation been going?” Yu asks, “even though Naoto-san told us already, I think a recap by the lead investigator of the investigation team should have some more insights on it.”

Uchida shakes her head and a look of frustration shadows over her face. “As Naoto-kun’s probably said, he confessed to the fact that he kidnapped the later four victims and said nothing about the original two. He did tell us his alibi regarding them, however, so unfortunately the case isn’t done yet, and the chief doesn’t want us to disclose who it was just yet.”

“I see.” Yu says and places their hand on their lips, their gaze far away for but a brief second before they look back up. “Is there anything else you can tell us besidse that?”

Uchida nods. “Yes, we most definitely, definitely know he has an accomplice in this - or, became the accomplice to the original perpetrator of the crime.” everyone sits up in attenation at that, even Naoto who seems surprised. “This was the result of today’s interrogation and he didn’t really tell us much. The only thing we know is this: the original perpetrator is a male who seems dissatisfied with his life, lives in Inaba but used to live somewhere else, and apparently has a calming voice.” she shakes her head. “A lot of people in Inaba used to live somewhere else before they came here, which is the problem.”

“And you can’t just ask someone if they’re unhappy with their life, huh.” Rise murmurs. “But if the original kidnapper isn’t the one doing the dirty work anymore, is he going to keep kidnapping? Or will the kidnappings come to an end?”

That seems to make the officer pause for a second - not out of surprise or anything but more like she doesn’t know how to address that statement without sounding like a defeatist. “As long as the Midnight Channel continues to show victims even after Namatame Taro’s jailing,” she says sternly, “then we have to keep on trying to find him - because unlike Namatame Taro, his motives are unknown. Namatame Taro thought he was saving people from themselves, the original perpetrator… might be someone who is just _bored._”

“And we still need to understand how he came to use the TV world. Something bigger is at play here and we need to be prepared for it.” Yu says, “so in reality, we’re not looking for one person - we’re looking for a person and I think a demon.”

“Shit.” Kanji says. “Y’think he’s gonna be a hard nut to crack then?”

Chie groans in frustration, “probably. I don’t like saying this but, we don’t even have a clue on where to start with the first dude. Saki-senpai doesn’t remember who it is either, right? Like, at least with Namatame Taro we could tell that it was a delivery guy who was doing all the kidnappings. But with Saki-senpai and the reporter? I don’t know.”

“The only thing we know is that she was lucid when she was thrown into the TV world.” Yu says. “That really isn’t a lot to go off on.”

“Then the only thing we can do is wait.” Yosuke says, “damn it, dude! I don’t like this! So we just have to wait? And for what? For the dude to slip up? Until when?!”

Yu places a hand on Yosuke’s shoulder and he trembles, though does his best to calm down when they feel their touch. He looks down at the floor, almost ashamed, and Yu gives a soothing rub before letting their hand come back down onto their lap. They look down at their own fingers, curl their hands up, and then sigh before they run their hands through their short hair.

“We’re going to have to wait.” Yu says, defeated. “Officer Uchida and Naoto-san have to conduct their own investigation and see if they can get any more out of Namatame. Otherwise, we just need to wait until a slip up happens.”

Everyone departs on a sour mood after that. Uchida gives an apology to everyone for the bad news but not for saying it and Yu just thanks her for everything she providse them. Right now, they really rather be home right now so that they can think up on what to do and maybe go to sleep. It isn’t that late into the evening right now, especially because they skip out on club activities and they doubt that Kou will tattle on them or anything like that. They trust him too much to ever doubt him like that.

So they instead take this as an opportunity to take a stroll around the town, staring up into the sky and not really paying attention to anyone around them. There is a nice chill in the air, a feeling that allows them to relax and cool their head. So absorbed they are in their walk, thinking of this and that and everything they learn, that they don’t notice the nosy reporters sneaking up on them until it is too late.

“You’re the kid that was recently discharged from the hospital, weren’t you?” a familiar reporter’s voice calls out and Yu’s body runs cold. They turn around to tell him off in the most polite way possible, to tell him to go away and leave his gosssiping for someone else, but the man grabs their elbow and yanks them a little to stop them from walking away and their voice catches in their throat. “You fit the bill!” he claims, blissfully unaware that Yu is struggling to not punch him, and they try to breathe through their mouth.

“We got an anonymous tip that a kid matching your looks was put into the hospital by none other than the Shadowy Kidnapper of Inaba!” he lets go of them far too late, his touch leaving a burn on their skin that they can’t help but grab at, even through their sleeve. They squeeze it and look at him like a deer caught in the headlight’s, “so, was it really you, kid? Did you get a personal visit by the kidnapper?”

They take a step back. “N-no, sir, I really - really don’t know what you’re talking about, I have to go…”

“If you listen to the rumours around the town a lot of people say that you were seen at the police helping a few of the victims, is that true?” the reporter keeps on going, the cameraman stepping in a little closer and they look up and widen their eyes, realising that the camera is rolling.

They try to take another step back, “I really have to go. I have homework to do, and I don’t have time to entertain-”

“There’s pictures of you to prove it!” the reporter continues on, and Yu has to focus on the world around them to remember to _breathe_, “so, is the kidnapper really, finally caught? What did he look like? Who was it? You must be connected! Maybe he finally wanted to get revenge on the kid who kept saving his victims, huh?”

“I don’t know!” Yu says, their voice rushing out of them in one fell swoop, “I have to go, I’m sorry!” they turn around and break out into a sprint, ignoring the voices of the man trying to hound them for more information regarding this. They sprint all the way back home, even after they get off the bus, and continue until they are rushing to open the door and they barrel into Chisato’s arms when she notices their distress.

Hours later, when they watch TV and sit with their aunt on the sofa, they find the ‘interview’ of themself on live TV and they stare at it, numb and unable to actually do anything other than stare as their barely censored face makes the rounds. Anyone with a brain can immediately tell that there is only one person with silver hair who attends Yasogami High and Yu doesn’t know how to feel. Even though the report is nothing more than speculative nonsense that will more than likely be discarded by the rest of the world, that is still Yu’s face on the screen. They decide to go to bed early that day, curl into themself, and try not to think about the fact that an opportunistic bastard is using this as an opportunity to stir chaos.

Yu falls asleep after belittling themself for a while and dreams do not come this one blissful night.

And just a little before midnight's time, a severe rain pours and clears the fog away and gives glimpse into the next person soon to be thrown into the TV world.


	50. Chapter 48

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Important Edit [14th November 2020]:** Made a few changes to the Shadow reveal on the TV. Make sure to keep that in mind.

Seeing Yu on the TV is the last thing Yosuke expects but that blurred person is unmistakably Yu - no one else has the same hair as he does, at least no one who goes to Yasogami High. Anyone with a brain can tell who it is and anyone with a brain can _also _tell that Yu doesn’t want to even _be there. _The reaction he has to being approached by the reporters is so visceral and annoyed even through the blur that Yosuke has to clench his fists to get over the desire to punch his TV, he is pretty sure his bones will shatter if he tries.

Still, he doesn’t like seeing Yu upset like that. The fact that they record him running off and upset pisses him off to no end - these guys are more like tabloid reporters instead of actual journalists. He calls Yu to check up on him, gets no answer, and rings two more times before he puts his phone down and furrows his brow.

He can only hope that Yu is fine after that stunt. He spends a few more hours working on his homework before going to the living room to talk to his mom and dad for a bit, the conversation going by as usual and Yosuke limply waves off their concern for him getting a girlfriend or not. How is he going to tell his parents he fell in love with a boy? The thought makes his hands sweat. He tries to think of something else until exhaustion drags at his eyelids and he decides to head to bed.

The pouring of rain is what jostles him awake, the downpour especially harsh tonight and Yosuke squints at his clock before groaning - almost midnight, huh? He lays down on his side, staring at the TV in his own room - this is one he had for years, keeping it even when it doesn’t work anymore. Initially, he likes the old-school look it gives his room. Now he stares at it anxiously, sleep escaping him rapidly while he waits for the time to tick over. He counts - it takes four ticks and three tocks before the familiar yellow of the Midnight Channel takes over.

He has to fight back the gut instinct to sit up quickly, not wanting to wake anyone else in the house as the static reveals to him a blurry figure -

Medium, shoulder-length hair flows from the figure’s head. He can’t see the figure’s face given that it is bent down, familiar, delicate hands hiding away the person’s face. The school uniform it wears is... is made up of two different ones - the bottom half is most definitely a Yasogami High male uniform, yet the top it wears is unrecognizable to him. It is not from a school within or near the vicinity of Inaba, that much is for sure. But why?

His heart hammers against his chest. For a few moments, the only thing the Shadow does is _cry._ His fingers shake, eyes burning into the TV screen until something changes at last. The Shadow stops shaking, its body stays curled over for but a mere second before she stands up. Straight and with perfect posture, looking like the perfect student, the Shadow faces the TV screen… and drops its hands.

Yu’s face stares right back at his - eyes made of Gold, expression devoid of joy, and skin a grotesque pallor. Yosuke just stares in shock at the image, takes in the very familiar look of the boy - partner he is in love with, and then blinks rapidly when the screen goes black.

Even though he suspects Yu being the next victim, this isn’t what he expects. His mind races, trying to piece together what it is that the Shadow is trying to show here - _something _gnaws at Yu and doesn’t he transfer here from another school? And so easily he slips into the role of a boy. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Yosuke lays back down onto his bed and tries to think over what it means -

Has Yu been hiding something from them all along? Something else? But… _why? _No feelings of betrayal come - there is the moment of hurt, of course, at a secret being hidden, but that all melts away when he thinks back to Yu’s behaviour over the past school year.

That isn’t the behaviour of someone with a horrible secret to hide. That is the behaviour of someone so utterly scared that he can’t bring himself to relax - it takes so long for him to grow used to their little Investigation Team and now his soft spoken partner has more skeletons in his closet than any of them will ever know.

Demanding answers won’t yield results, this he knows. Yu is not a bad guy, or an enemy - just like how Naoto had a reason to pretend to be a boy, Yu must have one too. The ringing of his phone interrupts his thoughts and he immediately lashes his hands out and grabs onto his phone, keeping it from alerting anyone else that he woke up some time ago.

“Hello?” he says softly.

“Yosuke?” Chie’s uncertain voice rings out, “did you… did you watch the Midnight Channel?” there is a pause. She takes that as all the answers she needs, “you… saw it too, didn’t you?”

He swallows. “Yeah, I did.”

“I tried to call Yu-kun,” Chie says softly, “but he didn’t answer.”

“Let’s just wait for tomorrow, okay?” Yosuke says, “wait for tomorrow.”

It is difficult to go to sleep after that but Yosuke manages.

* * *

Contrary to what people think, Kanji knows that something big’s gonna come up. Whether it be because of whatever the fuck officer Uchida shows up with or an attack, it is definitely going to be something huge. Yu appearing on the Midnight Channel is something that Naoto mentioned before, one of the notions that their boss entertains for a little bit before agreeing that his time is definitely coming.

Yet as Kanji gets ready to go to school, kissing his ma’s forehead before he goes, he still doesn’t know how to entirely parse what he sees. He sends a text to Yukiko-senpai who texts back near immediately, telling him to just simply wait until they are all gathered up.

Naoto is early to school as always, a hand at her chin while the other grabs her elbow, and she seems deep into thought. She doesn’t even flinch as Kanji walks up and greets her. “Hey, Naoto-kun.” he says and shoves his hands into his pockets and she barely glances his way.

“Good morning, Kanji-kun.” she eyes him before smiling airily, “I suppose the contents of the Midnight Channel is one of great interest, isn’t it?” she shakes her head gaze elsewhere, “… it makes me wonder what else Yu-senpai is hiding from us, and why he is doing it. He hides his ability with the Midnight Channel from us, and I have been unable to contact him about this. What is it that he regrets, I wonder?”

Kanji scratches the back of his head, “I don’t wanna guess or make judgements, I guess. Only person who can answer senpai’s situation… is senpai, after all.”

“You are correct,” Naoto says and sighs, “there is no need for me to doubt Yu-senpai - if they wanted to do something awful, they would have most likely done it. They aren’t the only one with secrets and regrets… I suppose it is just stranger to think that someone within the group is next.”

“Ya think we can protect him?” Kanji asks while he stands next to Naoto - the two of them are way too early to school, which means that no one is around yet. “We were able t’stop Namatame, after all.”

Naoto shakes her head. “officer Uchidawas able to stop Namatame Taro, not us. And even then, we had a suspicion of who it was by then. If it had been anyone else besides officer Uchida, I fear that Nanako-chan would have been thrown in…”

“... and she’d prob’ly not been able t’make it.” Kanji finishes for her. The two of them look at one another and Naoto’s expression twists into one of upset, “I’m glad it was officer Uchida then. Should be happier ‘bout it, than thinkin’ ‘bout all the what-ifs and stuff. But… guess this means this dude’s still out there, and he’s gonna thrown Yu-senpai in himself.”

She sighs and rubs her forehead, “yes, yes it does. Officer Uchida is busy trying to wrestle with the politics of this case, meaning that she is mostly busy arguing with the chief and others about the evidence at hand, so I do not have anything new for us to figure out who it could be that is the actual perpetrator of this case.”

“Shit sucks.” he says.

She snorts. “Yes, yes it does.”

Yu doesn’t come to school today and Yosuke comes in looking freaked out when he realises that. Yu won’t answer his phone either, which means everyone is shit out of luck trying to figure out what is going on. Naoto suggests that they all just simply meet up at Rise’s place and that she will try and contact Yu - but if he doesn’t want to come, she says, she won’t force him.

Kanji thinks that is more than fair.

* * *

Yukiko holds her hand immediately when they see each other again and Chie squeezes her hand, taking comfort in her grip. She smiles gently at Chie, trying to comfort whatever anxiety she has and then quickly lets go, not wanting anyone on the streets to comment on two girls holding hands. Chie stares bitterly at the floor for only a second before looking back up, steeling herself until she is able to make her way inside of the tofu store and she waves at Rise’s aunt and uncle before stepping into her room.

Everyone else is here already. Officer Uchida isn’t here, of course, given that she is busier than ever lately, but Naoto lets them know that the officer is aware of their predicament in spite of her absence.

“Yu-senpai hasn’t answered my calls and he didn’t come down when I visited his house.” Naoto says quietly as they all converge together, “it seems that this is a meeting we have to have without our leader. I think we can all feel relieved for now, however: Yu-senpai was home at least fifteen minutes ago, though he didn’t want to see anyone.”

Yukiko hums in thought, her face scrunching up cutely and Chie clenches her hands on her own lap. She wants to hold her hand, seek a little more comfort - the idea of Yu being a victim twists her stomach up. “Then… do you think that means he saw the Midnight Channel?”

“... most definitely.” Naoto says, “it seems he does not wish to discuss with us what it means, and I do not blame him.” no one does, really. But… “however, this is still a precarious situation to be in. We do not know who the perpetrator is and he could strike at any moment. Namatame Taro has only, so far, referred to him as his guiding light in the fog, so there is very, very little we can go off on.”

Rise huffs, frustration clearly written all over her face at Naoto’s announcement. Of course, they are all already aware of this - it doesn’t make it any less agitating, though, and Rise looks even more helpless than they all feel. Her relative newness may be what is getting to her - Yu knows her only relatively recently and even promises her that he will be her friend for as long as he is here.

To have her first friend disappear on her must be hitting her hard.

“Then… are we supposed to just wait?” Rise says, her face twisting up even further, “we can’t do anything, right? We just have to wait?”

Naoto grimaces, “we might have to use Yu-senpai as bait.” she says a little gravely. “Officer Uchida and I will trail after him and make sure to keep anyone from throwing him in.”

“What ‘bout what we saw on the TV?” Kanji says, “shouldn’t we ask ‘im ‘bout it? Like, maybe if we get ‘im t’confess to it outta the TV, it’ll change his fate?”

“I don’t know,” Yosuke says, “we’ll be invading his privacy either way,r ight? I- I don’t wanna do that to him. But I don’t know what to do otherwise…”

“... Yu-ku will tell us when he wants to.” Yukiko says softly, “we all have something to hide, and maybe we’re still hiding it.” she glances over to Chie before looking back at everyone, “if we can catch the original criminal before Yu-kun gets thrown in… maybe we can avoid all of this?”

In the end, they can’t really come to any conclusion and can’t bring themself to leave either. A long discussion erupts, one that has everyone taking turns essentially going into a circle, but Chie thinks it is better they have this conversation instead of waiting for later.

She just hopes nothing happens while they are here…

* * *

Tamaki likes to think that she is a woman of infinite patience. With everything that she has been through and all the strangeness she endures still because of her profession as a devil summoner, nothing really phases her anymore. Even this situation is just per the norm for her and she suspects that Philemon has a hand in this again - he did the last time and so did Nyarlathotep but something feels off about the entire thing.

Even with Philemon in his weakest state, he still is capable of granting everyone the ability to change out their personas for demons should the need arise. However, she can’t feel a trace of his power here… and Naoya is the owner of the Velvet Room, too. As well, Nyarlathotep is still horrifically strong and always will be but whoever is doing this feels almost like a copycat of him. What is she supposed to make of all this? She can’t ask Yu either because the last time he tries to confess he ends up in severe pain and almost choking to death. Still, this is all normal.

All of that is fine. She can handle all the supernatural. It’s the police chief that she makes her want to bash her skull against the wall. She has been facing hours of non-stop criticism from the man and her agitation has been building up because of it - sure, she gets it. This is bad. They don’t have the full picture of the crime yet and he is getting antsy knowing that the first perpetrator is still out there.

But can he stop taking it out on her? She is just as stumped as he is!

It is on her fiftieth review of evidence that she’s already looked through that someone knocks on the door to her temporary office.

“Come in.” she says and a mousy, scared looking officer opens the door. Unlike everyone else here, this one looks like a newbie - a familiar one at that and she squints and stares at him. Her gaze freezes him in place while she inspects him and she taps her fingers on the desk while she tries to remember where she recognises him from…

“Oh!” she cries out, “you’re one of the officers that helped us watch over Kujikawa Rise right! What was your name again?” she smiles sheepishly at him at the last line but he seems busier worrying over something else, something that makes discomfort settle at the edge of her mind.

He fidgets a little, “W- Watanabe Tatsuya, ma-ma’am!” Tatsuya, huh? Hearing that name makes her smile, almost.

“Well, Watanabe-kun, what can I help you with?”

Watanabe looks down, his face flushed and heavy with… guilt? She furrows her brow and sits up properly, getting rid of the slouch that gnaws at her back. “Watanabe?”

“I have a confession to make,” he says immediately after hearing his name, “and… and I just want to say, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry for keeping this from you!”

“What do you mean?”

“Y-you… you probably don’t remember, but… I’m the one who let Kujikawa Rise run off. That was my fault and the reason I gave at the time? Was a lie.”

_‘Kid came over again, huh?_’ Tohru thinks to himself as he gets up and opens the door for Yu upon hearing the doorbell ring, his phone still open on the text message announcing his arrival. Just like always, he flinches at the sight of Tohru but puts on his best smile, failing to hide the way he shakes and shivers just from seeing him. He lets Yu in and the boy scampers in like a lost kitten, looking around his flat like it is new again.

He stares at Yu’s back while he busies himself in the kitchen, takes in the slouch of his back and the redness of his eyes, but keeps his words to himself. He knows the reason behind Yu’s upset - of course he does. How can’t he? His eyes flicker over to the TV where some shitty drama is playing, making sure to avoid the news that no doubt has Yu on it again.

“How was school, kid?” Tohru calls out.

“Didn’t go.” is the terse reply.

“Ah.”

Given the way his friends follow him around and probably don’t know much about him, the idea of facing them after the Midnight Channel reveals an aspect of Yu’s struggle probably frightens the ever-living shit out of him. Months ago, when he first realises that Yu is the fucker who is on his tail, he probably would have internally gloated over that. Maybe even try and make him more uncomfortable, terrify the kid a little longer. Now? He doesn’t know. Something hot and unsettling sits at the pit of his stomach, threatening to kill him just from how _shitty _it makes him feel.

He doesn’t like the feeling. Has no clue what it is either. Doesn’t want to think too much about it and what it can mean because he sure as hell knows he won’t like the answer.

“Thanks for the food.” he says when Yu settles a plate down in front of him, even quieter than usual. Yu has always been a quiet kid - very polite, too. Pretty as hell, no matter what gender he plays at; outstanding where Tohru is average. He has the world in the palm of his hands but doesn't seem to know what to do with it, especially with what he hides away behind that pretty face of his. Before, knowing Yu’s secret made Tohru feel secure in his blackmail material. Now? He just feels weird knowing it.

The kid gets to cleaning his flat up, picking up dirty clothes and putting them in the hamper and then vacuuming when Tohru gives him permission to. The act makes his shoulders slump, his muscles unwinding while he tidies the place up and makes it look nice and clean.

“Thanks.” Tohru says and Yu just nods, looking like he is drifting off into his own world as he does. He takes a seat on the other end of the sofa, far away from Tohru, and he scratches the back of his head. This isn’t surprising, really. He only has himself to blame for Yu’s distance. “Why’d you skip out on school today, Yu-kun? Aren’t you a straight-A student? Don’t you have better things to do than to hang out with old men like me?”

“You aren’t old, Adachi-san.” is the instantaneous response - voice polite, words neutral. “… I’m scared to see my friends right now, and I didn’t feel well. I’m sorry for intruding-”

Tohru shrugs. “It’s not a problem, kid. I always got time for Chisato-chan’s nephew.” and he is sincere, too. Even if Yu is his mortal enemy, well supposed to be anyway, he can never say no to anyone Chisato holds dear. He loves her, really does, but not romantically like one will expect.

She is a good woman, a great mother. His mind flashes to the way she holds back her tears while holding onto Nanako during Ryoutarou’s funeral, the way she keeps a strong face in spite of the horrific circumstances. They never did catch the man who slammed his car into Ryoutarou but Chisato seems to have moved on.

_“I have to, for Nanako.” _he remembers her saying. Always a strong one, that Chisato. If Chisato is to tell him that she is going to die of a cancer the next day and she needs him to take care of Nanako for her then he would drop everything in a heartbeat. He’d even take more jobs and quit being a police officer for Nanako’s sake.

And yet his boredom with his current life leads him to this: sitting in the same vicinity as the one trying to solve a case he starts because he thought his life was so dull.

“Hey, Yu-kun,” he says and reaches for the remote, the TV clicking off soon after, his throat dry now, “mind if I ask you something?” Yu looks over to him and hums non-committally. “Do you trust me?”

There is a sharpness to Yu’s gaze, then, and for a second it isn’t his face that is staring at Tohru. It isn’t Yu’s grey eyes but the dull, red eyes of Izanami as she eyes him up and down, as though appraising a piece of meat at the butcher shop. It is her cruel, bewitching gaze that stares at him, her lips that curl into a smirk when she extends her hand out towards him.

_“I saved you from being caught by the police,” she says when Tohru finally registers that Mayumi is in the TV, _ _“I’m the one who’ll save you from your boredom… but only if you agree to a deal with me.”_

_He eyes her for a while, then looks over to the TV that swallows Mayumi whole - it’s something new, something fun, something unfuckingbelievable. He’d be an idiot to say no to her._

_“Why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.” he says with a shrug, his hand reaches out to take hers in a handshake that brands him until the end of their contract._

_“If you help me, this boring, dull world will glow bright with the red of conflict.” Izanami says, her voice so confident and full of promise that Tohru cannot help but be intrigued. “You will get whatever you want. You can become a demon, stronger, better than man. All you have to do… is to eventually pave the way for the Conduit to come to me._

_“Show to the Conduit the futility of this world. The Gods will always test and toy with humans, and only in trusting me will it stop. All you need to do… is help the Conduit see that.”_

Izanami closes her eyes, then Yu opens them and stares at Tohru, his gaze eventually growing tired. “I want to, Adachi-san.” he says finally, “I want to, because auntie Chisato trusts you so much. I want to see that too.”

Silence stretches over them before Tohru leans forward then slowly comes to a stand. Yu just stares at him the entire time.

“Kid?”

“.. yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

Tamaki stares at Watanabe with disbelief, her eyes wide and her hands tight fists upon her desk. “What… what did you say?”

He takes his head off his head and clutches it to his chest, takes in a deep breath, then repeats his prior statement in a more confident voice, “the one who told me to let Kujikawa Rise go was Adachi Tohru, and he told me I’d regret if I ever, ever told anyone.”

“Adachi… was the…” her hand flies up to her mouth.

“I couldn’t take it anymore.” Watanabe says, “I was - I was sick with guilt every day. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I - I hated myself for it. It was my fault an innocent young girl got kidnapped and was in so much danger. I didn’t care if he threatened to give me the same fate as the first victim! I didn’t care! And I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry I let this happen, I’m so sorry I was a coward.

“But… Adachi Tohru knew. He said that right now, Namatame Taro was going to come over, and I was going to let Kujikawa Rise go so that he would catch her. And… and that is all I wanted to say. I’m… I’m going to go home. If you get the chief to fire me… then I understand. Good bye, Uchida-san.”

She dives for her phone the moment he closes the door behind him, her eyes wide while she waits for Chisato to pick up. “Chisato!?” she says, urgency clear in her voice, “where is Yu? Where is Yu right now!?”

_“T-Tamaki? What’s-”_

“Where is he!?”

_“He’s -- he’s at Tohru-kun’s. Why?”_

The phone receiver drops from her hand, her eyes wide and expression grave. It is only when she hears Chisato’s worried voice from the receiver does she dive down and pick it up again.

“Chisato, I need you to stay calm,” Tamaki says slowly, “Yu appeared on the Midnight Channel.” there is a long, drawn-out silence that doesn’t want to end and so she keeps going. “and… and Adachi Tohru is the one who’s going to throw him in.”

Yu doesn’t even struggle when Tohru grabs at his wrists and forcefully yanks him off of the sofa. He doesn’t react much besides the shocked gasp, his eyes rolling over to the TV before staring up at Tohru. The look in his eyes causes Tohru to freeze up.

“So it was you.” Yu says softly, his eyes downcast and refusing to meet with Tohru’s. “Of course it was you. It was always obvious, wasn’t it?” he swallows and closes his eyes. He trembles a little in Tohru’s hold, not capable of breaking out even if he tried - no matter the scenario, Tohru has more training than Yu in the end. He knows how to use his own strength to subdue folks. He is a cop in the end.

This whole situation makes him feel oddly queasy.

Yu lets out something between a laugh and a sob as Tohru drags him closer to the TV.

“Is it okay if I ask for a favour?” Yu says, voice too quiet, too withdrawn. He wants to scream at the kid to fight back, to shout, struggle, anything. Don’t just accept this. Fight back. _Anything._

Instead, Tohru swallows and says, “what is it, kid?”

“Please don’t let Chisato and Nanako know it was you.” he says, “please don’t hurt them. Please.”

His mouth dries up. “I’d never hurt them, kid.” he promises and Yu looks up at him before looking over to the TV. In complete silence, without struggle unlike Yamano Mayumi or Konishi Saki, Tohru shoves Narukami Yu into the TV and watches him disappear into the land of demons. Tohru takes a step back and stares. He waits, and waits, and waits. And waits.

Nothing happens.

He looks down at his hands and wonders what this sinking, heavy sensation in his stomach is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was Very Tired and in mild pain when I wrote this.


	51. Chapter 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Important**: a few edits were made to the previous chapter [Chapter 50: CH48] so that this chapter could make more sense. Thank you for your patience!

Entering the TV world normally has a floaty feeling following it - for a second, they are standing on air and walking upon nothing before they come crashing down onto the ground. Over time, one can get used to the feeling of slipping in through the TV and into a world that obeys and disobeys logic all the same. Death is possible, yet not necessarily permanent - uniqueness is a privilege, magic is expected. Hierarchies hold greater import here than anywhere else. Angels exist and watch upon all with distaste and Gods sit back and laugh, even if they are never really there.

To go in willingly is to adjust to the fall. To be thrown in is to be treated as nothing more than a rock victim to gravity and Yu lands with a thunderous crash down onto the yellow floor. There is pain - or what they think should be pain - that is quickly gone when Izanagi appears and places a hand upon the top of their head, energy radiating from his palm before spreading quickly all throughout.

****“Stand, Conduit.****” Izanagi says and his voice booms out into the vast emptiness of the demon world around them and Yu flinches. With a bit of a struggle they are finally on their feet and not lamenting on the ground - though they now stare into the masked visage of their persona and look into his lone, visible eye. ****“And so your time has finally arrived, Conduit.”****

Their hands curl into fists by their sides, their throat tensing and relaxing alongside a loud gulp while they try to keep their gaze upon their persona. “You’re… not going to help me escape, are you?” Yu asks after a long, extended silence, “I’m going to have to go through this, no matter what, aren’t I?”

Izanagi does not say anything to the contrary, his silence all the answer that Yu needs. They will themself to keep from looking away, not willing to admit defeat to the overwhelming presence of their persona. “… are my friends watching right now? Can you tell me even that much?” they say, their voice terse and higher-pitched than usual, “is everyone watching us?”

****“No.”**** Izanagi says immediately, not a moment hesitated. ****“But they will see your Shadow soon, they will know you have been caught. Your palace is not far, Conduit.”****

“Why won’t you call me by my name?” they ask, their eyes firmly upon Izanagi and he stares back at them with that lone, judging eye.

He turns his head away and stares off into the distance and Yu follows their gaze and they flinch when their eyes meet the dulled gold of one whom they never wish to see - not in a million years. They stare upon the shell of their former year, the husk covered in bruises and dirt and eyes red and swollen. Long hair lays long and greasy upon the Shadow’s head, their old uniform worn and tattered. Their Shadow stares at them with nothing more than a waiting, calm expression, their body relaxed where Yu’s is tense. This is not the one on the TV - but it is no doubt a part of them, anyway. A part of themself they cannot look upon with a smile, not any more.

In the wind the Shadow’s hair flows, giving to it a beauty which can only be found in the blackened trunks of mossy trees with parasite infested leafs.

****“Why am I to refer to you so familiarly,”**** says Izanagi, ****“when there is not a bond between us? When you and I know each other not at all?”****

* * *

Naoto rushes to the Dojima household the moment she gets the call from Uchida, her friends hot on her heels when she relays the news to them. She skids to a stop at the pathway to the house, her body doubling over and she grasps at her knees while panting from her sprint, the rest in the same state of exhaustion before her. There are police at the door already, Dojima’s eyes wide and fraught from what may become of Yu, and Nanako sits stubbornly within her arms. Her little face buries into her mother’s shoulder, refusing to look at or acknowledge anyone.

“Shirogane,” an officer says upon her walking up, the man not saying anything in regards to her state of disarray, and she doesn’t even bother fixing herself up while she approaches him, “did Officer Uchida call you up here? Well, of course she would.” he sighs and rubs behind his head, having to lift his cap as he does.

She clears her throat. “Have you been able to collect any evidence?”

“We were able to acquire his phone.”

“So he left it at home?”

“Yes, seems so. We looked through his most recent contacts but the only one he spoke to was officer Adachi. Every other recent contact was a missed call or an unread message. From what we can tell, as well, Narukami Yu only recently started talking to officer Adachi via phone and their conversations have been very sparse.”

She tries not to curse and instead composes herself as best she can, ignoring the look of the rest of the group as they huddle around behind her. A brief part of her comments that they are all lucky to have Rise not be seen by any fans or else the delay getting here will have been _awful._

“Is there anything else you can tell me?”

The officer scratches the back of his head again, “I don’t know if officer Uchida told you already but one of the lookouts during our attempt to protect the idol girl recently came up to her and told her he was the one who let her run off and, allegedly, Adachi Tohru told him to do it. Right now, she’s on her way to his apartment and we’re just waiting on updates.”

“I see… Do you mind if I speak to Dojima Chisato and her daughter?”

The officer before her shrugs, “we’re already done interviewing her and she doesn’t know anything, so you’re free to speak to her.” all the other officers file after him once they finish asking all their questions and Naoto steps aside, letting them all pass. She watches them get into their cars and stands there, waiting until the coast is clear before she turns around to look Dojima straight in the eyes.

She looks back at Naoto with shock written all over, her hands cradling Nanako protectively. “He took Yu.” she says blankly, her normally energetic voice quiet and tired, “he took Yu.”

“Dojima-san…”

She shakes her head, her expression twisting up even further. “I trust Tamaki. If she thinks he did it, then I don’t doubt her.” it doesn’t take long for a self-deprecating frown to take over Dojima’s lips and she gazes at Naoto like she is confessing to a wrongdoing. “When… when Yu said he wanted to visit him, I thought - I thought maybe it was because he needed some sort of fatherly figure. I can be as motherly to him as I can be, but he must have missed his father.

“I thought… I thought it was fine. I trusted him. Maybe it was my own fault - I wasn’t paying attention to Yu, or how he felt whenever he was here, or anything. I failed Yu, and I failed my sister.”

There isn’t anything Naoto can say to that - not because it is true, Heavens no, that is not true at all. She just doesn’t know what to say to this woman with a brand new scar upon her forehead, with a scared daughter, and a nephew missing because of her second closest friend. All of this within a span of a few days, as well - this poor woman has not been given even a single break and Naoto does not know how to comfort her.

“You’re free to look through the house, but if you’re going to look through Yu’s room then I’m going to have to ask that you let me be there. Please, I know the police can’t do anything about this, so… please, save my nephew.”

She leads them up towards Yu’s room upstairs even though they all already know where it is. Still, she stands by the door and holds Nanako, her eyes focused solely on Naoto as she steps into the room. Yu’s room is quite small, leading her to believe that this is more likely some sort of guest room and not really a place meant to house a teenager like Yu. School books and manga line the bookshelf nearby and the makeshift table in the middle of the room is covered in papers - some sort of translation effort when she looks through them.

There is nothing really interesting on Yu’s study desk - looking through it has her just staring at his rather meticulous study notes and comparing them to his messy class notes. There isn’t even a laptop here, though Dojima informs her that is because the police takes it already as evidence. She makes a note of that then continues looking around, not really finding anything as she does.

“Why are we here?” Chie asks eventually, an understandable frustration in her voice. “Shouldn’t we be jumping into the TV world already? He’s not here! And we already know who it is, anyway!”

“I’m here because I want to know why it is that Yu-senpai is thrown in.” Naoto says, “and to know one thing: why did he go and visit officer Adachi? I do not wish to accuse him of anything, but… but I feel as though Yu-senpai has been hiding something from us - no, many things, and the Midnight Channel only proves it.

“Yu-senpai has some sort of relationship with officer Adachi, and I wish to know why.” Dojima doesn’t say anything while Chie grumbles, quieted only by Yukiko’s gentle shushing, and Naoto continues looking around - trying to find something, _anything, _that will explain to her what sort of relationship Yu has with Adachi. It is through her rifling of Yu’s room that she pauses when her fingers brush along something different. A piece of cloth sits beneath one hap hazardously thrown cushion, standing out with its white against dark brown.

She frowns and drags it out then lifts it up by the corners. Her eyes widen when she realises what it is. Turning back, she stares at Dojima who simply looks at her calmly, unperturbed by what Naoto finds. She turns around, lifts her hands up, and presents the binder to everyone else.

Silence rings as loud as a gong upon their reaction. Yosuke steps forth, hand reaching out to grab at the bottom of the binder, and his expression is unreadable.

“So, is this why Yu-kun always changed last during P.E?” he says, a sad smile dancing along his face. “… do you think this was scary for him? Having to constantly hide like that, not being who he wants to be…”

“Yes,” Dojima says suddenly, catching all of their attention. There is something inexorably hallowed on her face, a look that makes Naoto’s heart tighten up painfully. “It was. Everything was so scary for Yu. The nightmares won’t go away, he still hides who he is, and it isn’t up to me to reveal to you what he hides. That is for Yu, himself, to tell.” a pained smile spreads on her face. “… I just want Yu to be happy.”

“We’ll find ‘im,” Kanji says, voice so resolute that Naoto cannot help but feel the same confidence he harbours, “we’ll find ‘im, ma’am, and we’ll make sure nothin’ happens to him! Ya got my promise, a’right?! And I won’t ever break my promise!”

Nanako moves her head away from her mother’s chest to finally look at Kanji, her eyes wide and glossy. “Are you really gonna find my cousin?” she says softly, her voice hoarse and scared, “I don’t… I don’t get it… my cousin… my cousin… why’d he have to take him away too?” tears quickly fill her eyes up and she immediately buries her face back into Dojima’s chest, her sobs audible even as she trise to hide them.

Watching Nanako cry, watching the way her shoulders shake and her body trembles, they cannot help but be filled with a resounding sense of duty. Of obligation.

A familiar ring tone blares throughout the room, loud and catching attention yet not bringing an end to Nanako’s cries. She hands the binder over to Yosuke, steps out and answers her phone, listens to what Uchida has to say, and her grip around her phone tightens. She turns around.

“Adachi Tohru was not found within his apartment nor the places he frequents.” Naoto says dully, “his phone was found in his home and there is no sign of him leaving. His car is still within the parking lot, all of his keys were left at home but the door was unlocked. No one saw him leave, and thus the police don’t know where he has gone.”

Chie takes in a deep breath. “He’s hiding in the TV world.” she says, “let’s find where that jerk is and kick him all the way to the moon!”

With everyone’s spirits invigorated, Naoto takes on the position of leader until Yu returns back to them all, safe and sound.

* * *

He is still in Yu’s room when Chie comes to find him, everyone having already gone downstairs to listen to Naoto’s battle plan. She knocks on the door to the room, even with it wide open, and Yosuke doesn’t even move to look at her. He just grunts to acknowledge her, his gaze solely upon the binder that sits on his lap.

“Hey.” Chie says, her voice soft and gentle like he remembers it all the way back in their childhood. She was nice to him back then, a great friend - always protecting him when he got bullied, and being kinder to him when tears gather at his eyes. He doesn’t cry much, not really - he doesn’t have much to cry over.

Except for now, he supposes.

She takes a seat next to him on Yu’s bed, making it dip a little further with their combined weight. “Does… does it bother you?” Chie asks after a while and he glances at her from the corner of his eyes. She points at the binder on his lap, the one he is still holding onto, and Yosuke can’t stop looking at it. “Does it bother you, knowing that Yu-kun was…”

Chie doesn’t finish her statement, probably not sure of how to word it herself, yet that is enough for it to sink into Yosuke’s mind and for him to think over it. He rubs a circle on the fabric within his hand, noting distantly that it seems to be of poor quality and quite frayed. He thinks about it, lets the question ruminate and his mind wander - does it bother him? That Yu may be transgender?

That Yu may be different from him?

It doesn’t even take a second for the heavy _no _to register within his mind. Yu is… Yu. No matter what he is, or who he may be, what he is hiding, Yu is still himself - his friend, his partner, and the one who takes him along this insane, wacky trip that he never would have imagined taking. He is the one who introduces him to all these people, who is so kind yet scared all the same, who is so unbearably polite that Yosuke wishes he would just relax more.

In the end, no matter what label one is to put on Yu, he is still the Narukami Yu he knows and loves. Cares so deeply for.

“No,” he says firmly, “it doesn’t bother me. It shouldn’t, and it won’t.” he gently sets the binder aside, smiles bitterly, then looks up into Chie’s concerned gaze before tapping his knuckles on his knees. “Hey, Chie? Can I ask you a question?”

She fidgets a little, uncomfortable at the prospect of answering wrong. Well, there is a wrong answer to the question he is asking but he hopes to hell and beyond that Chie gives him the right one. “Sure,” she says, eventually. “What is it?”

“If I told you I was in love with Yu, that I’ve been in love with him for almost this entire thing, would you hate me for it?”

Chie stares at him with shock at his bold statement - his coming out statement, he supposes. It is easier to do this with Kanji, now that he thinks about it - dude already loves a guy, doesn’t he? They aren’t that close either, even if his plain words help Yosuke out along the way. Chie, though? Chie is practically his sister.

He just hopes he won’t have to abandon her.

“... I’d never hate you for it,” she says, “because… because I…” she hesitates for a second, curls her hands, then steels herself for her own confession, “because I’m in love Yukiko, and I’ve been dating her in secret - and… and it won’t be fair of me to hate you, when I’m probably the same as you.”

Now it is his turn to look shocked and Chie smiles sheepishly, though her body is still tense. Huffing out a soft laugh, he reaches up and ruffles her hair, much to her agitation. “Hey,” he says, “I hope you two’ll be happy forever.”

“... Thanks. I hope Yu-kun gets to know how you feel about him, too.”

He sees Yu’s face in his mind’s eye, sees his smile, his touch upon Yosuke. The hug he returns, the way he leans into him that one night. Yosuke takes in a shuddering breath, counts to ten and exhales through his mouth before nodding along to her sentiment. “Yeah. I think - I think I’ll confess to him after all of this is over with. I want him… I want him to know I’ll always be there for him.”

“And I’ll support you,” Chie says and she takes it as her turn to ruffle Yosuke’s hair, though rougher than he does to her, “I believe in you, okay? No matter what happens, I’ll always have your back.”

The two of them head down soon after and Naoto looks at them with an arched eyebrow. He doesn’t explain anything, no one asks him to, and he instead just sits down around the kotatsu and listens to Naoto as she goes into explanations.

She doesn’t want them to rush and states instead that, for this week and the week next, there is going to be rain at midnight. “Wait until tomorrow, do not rush, and remember: Yu-senpai has his own persona. He can handle himself and whatever the world throws at him, but that doesn’t mean we have to leave him to fend for himself.

“If we want to save him, we cannot rush in. For just tonight, let us look at the Midnight Channel and see what it reveals, what it is that we might face, and tomorrow we shall trek into the TV world and save Yu-senpai as we, you, all have.”

It is as good a plan as any, even if it makes Yosuke feels antsy to not dive immediately into the TV world. He understands her reasoning, regardless of whatever anxiety he feels, and he can only hope that Yu is safe right now. His leader is strong, capable. He just has to trust in him to be able to wait. To be patient.

_‘We’ll save you soon, I swear it.’._

* * *

It seems that one does not need Teddie, or a Teddie substitute, to find their own palace. They follow after the trail their Shadow leaves behind, Izanagi floating on behind them. They do not know why it is that he separates from them, what he has to prove, but his words will not leave their mind and Yu does not know how to process them.

The palace their Shadow fades away into is a large one - unlike all the others that have some sort of connection to their own regrets, to what their fears and secrets represent, theirs is a large, imposing cathedral. They know not what era it is supposed to represent as it is a pitch black, as though it has devoured all light around it and is nothing more than a bleak reminder of where Yu needs to go. It is not all blank, however, as symbols appear intermittently upon its inky surface - the crest of Yasogami high, of their old school, and of their own name written down upon a contract. Prayers appear, eyes open just to drill holes into them before slipping shut. Lines of red appear and pulse, like throbbing veins, before melting down into the void.

****“You cannot delay yourself.”**** Izanagi says. ****“Whether you lose sight of yourself, or not, that does not matter. You must only face yourself, and see what comes after.”****

“... Izanagi.” Yu takes a step forward, and another, until they are at the ‘entrance’ of their palace. They place a hand upon rippling walls and feel the hum of life beneath their fingertips. “Is everything that happened here - the personas, the demon world spilling over, the TV world, the Midnight Channel… was this all my fault?”

They twist around to look at Izanagi, to stare upon his metallic mask - no, the more they look at it, the more they realise it looks like a cage. A contraption to hide away his visage. ****“The Midnight Channel existed before you came here,” ****he says, ****“for how long? I do not know. Time is meaningless for a being such as I. Yet, for this I have paid attention and to which I will tell you now: within the months leading up to your decision to come here… all else may be blamed upon you.”****

His words are not comforting - they are noble sounding, dignified and strong, his voice carrying strength that they do not share. His is a power of royalty, of years upon years of recognition and prayer.

Yu is but a human.

“Then,” they say when they look back at the palace and they sink their hand in, the wall rippling desperately around their arm, “I’m going to take responsibility for this, and I’m going to fix all the wrongs that I’ve done without even knowing - no matter what it takes.”

And so Yu slips into their palace, unprepared yet willing to face what may lie ahead within their own version of Hell.


	52. Chapter 50

How does it feel to enter one’s own palace and be met with a cacophony of noise? Reminders of the past that they have done well to forget, yet never confronted once in their attempts to move on. Yu slips through the membranous barrier of the palace and stumbles into a long hallway plastered with their old photos. Their eyes look tired but happy to be surrounded by their friends, even if down the line they all throw them to the lions once all is said and done.

They stare, uncomprehending, upon their own face that lines the walls - they take a step forward and they hold back a scream when something wet splatters across the wall next to them, hands flying up to clasp at their chest and they gasp. An overwhelming smell of mud and trash fills their nose and they heave from the stench, hand flying up to cover their nostrils. Photos ooze into being when Yu walks down the hallway - wetness continues to splatter all over the wall, reeking of all the trash they remember being dumped on their desk just before school starts.

Insults and slurs written all over their desk appear upon some of the photos, thankfully cut off but the memory still painfully fresh. They bow their head down and try to avoid looking onto the walls, breaking out into a desperate run in a bid to escape -

Lips smack wetly, familiar words echoing all throughout their palace, and Yu slams their hands onto their ears. Even if there is an atrocious smell filling their nose now it is better than hearing the voices of people they once knew, once trusted, and once befriended. When they look behind them to ask Izanagi for help they stop and falter, eyes staring at blackness behind and not a sight of their persona.

Closing their eyes, they attempt to call upon their demons only for their eyes to snap open when Yu realise they cannot hear them. Their mind is horrifically empty - the voices of their demons all but memories now and Yu struggles to breathe.

There is no one else here but them. Their hands shake as they raise them off of their ears, bringing them down just to stare at their palms. Magic does not spark from their fingertips. There is _nothing. _Their sword is not on them, stuck behind the doors of the Velvet Room.

_‘I’m scared.’_

Swallowing, they close their eyes and shake where they stand, the voices growing louder and louder when they finally get a move on - faces of old friends form upon the floors, their tongues wagging against Yu’s shoes and they make sure to stare forward. They open a door and push ahead, ending up within another hallway that stretches on forever and ever and ever -

Unsympathetic, inexperienced, and hateful teachers walk along the hallways, shambling about like zombies. Ahead of them all and looking for a place to hide is their Shadow - long-haired, caked in dirt and mud, and dried tear stains upon their cheeks.

They open their mouth but their voice freezes within their throat as they hear their kouhai screaming at them that they are a freak, that she will make sure their life is a living hell - that she promises to punish a perverted _fuck _like Yu for ever daring to peep on the girls, for daring to be -

Her enraged words dance about in their head and they stumble on their own feet and fall forward, landing upon the face of one of their bullies on the floor. He sneers at them - once upon a time, when he still thinks Yu is a girl, they remember him asking them out constantly. No matter how many times they say no he does not back down. It is only upon the reveal that Yu is not a girl that his face changes - the adoration becomes one of hot disgust.

He was popular, then. A handsome boy with so many girls swooning over him and the entire student population bending over backwards for him and once someone like him declares Yu their enemy, then they are the enemy of everyone else. Though, if not everyone then at least those who are willing to do whatever they can to also be popular.

Tears prick their eyes and they are unable to keep the drops from falling upon the bully’s face. They curl over, their hands covering their face and fight the urge to cry. It has been a year sicne then - why can’t they just get over themself? Why can’t they just - why can’t they just forget? Why can’t they just forget and be normal for once? They were doing so well to shove this all in the back of their mind, doing so well to not relapse…

Sobs break out of their mouth -

_You’re so pathetic, a_ voice in the back of their head sneers, _stop crying. Get over yourself. Can you at least pretend to be a normal person and just get over yourself? Crybabies like you aren’t worth shit in the real world._

They wipe at their eyes with their arm, sniffling disgustingly over the fabric of their shirt. _Stand up. _They push at the floor and force themself to stand on shaky, wobbly legs. _Find your Shadow and get out of here. God, you’re so useless without your demons and persona - it’s time for you to grow up and actually do something for once._

_‘I wish Teddie was here.’ _they take one step forward, legs as heavy as boulders, _‘I wish my friends were here. I wish… I wish I was back home. I wish I never came here.’_

They shove past waves upon waves of the same teachers, wet groans escaping rotten lips and Yu tries not to gag from the sensation of touching any of these decaying, walking corpses. They can still see their Shadow in the distance… and they can also feel someone’s presence - nearby, watching, looking at them and waiting to see what Yu will do. It is a quiet presence, almost calming in how little pressure it exerts, and they know immediately that it is not Izanagi.

He abandons them in their greatest time of need and the only thing they can do is move forward and hope, pray, that no demons clamber their way inside of the palace and try to eat them. They may be on limited time - they cannot dawdle for long. They need to get a move on…

With no way to tell the time and no way to tell what will become of them, Yu pushes through the crowd of shambling monsters and does their best to chase after their Shadow even as their lungs twist and the presence trails after them curiously.

* * *

There is a part of Yukiko that never really thought that she’d be here - among everyone else, chasing after demons and beating up Shadows and carrying around personas - but she will be remiss if she is to say she hates it. No - she quite loves being among her newfound friends and this chance meeting with Yu leads her to finally confessing to Chie. The two of them spend a good, long while awkward around each other at first, with Chie so uncertain and uncomfortable.

At first, she thinks she ruins her chances with her friend forever - only to realise, later down the line, that even if Chie never loves her back that she would never abandon Yukiko like that. It is a beautiful fortune to have Chie confess back to her, holding her hands in her own and declaring so readily that she will die for Yukiko if she has to.

She hopes it will never come down to that.

Everything goes smoothly - all of them chase after Shadows and try to help people self-actualize, trying to find the kidnapper and keep them from hurting anyone ever again. The entire time, Yukiko is just happy to be alongside Chie. She is happy to see her so excited to stop people, trying to enact her own version of justice while they make plans to live together, and hopefully someday more.

Now, their journey feels oddly pointless.

Watching the Midnight Channel tonight, knowing that it is someone she already knows, is oddly disconcerting. The Shadow tonight is different - looking more like a girl in a school uniform, with mud thrown at the Shadow’s clothes and its gaze elsewhere. Yu is there as well - down on his knees, face buried within their palms, and his head bowed down while his shoulders shake. The Shadow stares down upon Yu, its gaze bleak, empty.

_“Get up.” _the Shadow says, ad infinitum. It says nothing else besides that. _“Get up.” _its dissonant voice grates upon her ears, _“get up.”_

Yukiko doesn’t know what to make of this - of the scene before them. _“Get up.” _she hopes Yu is safe, that nothing happens to him, and her hands curl into fists upon her lap while she stares at the screen. The lot of them are going to meet up tomorrow to see what Naoto has planned and, hopefully, tomorrow they will be able to go and save Yu.

* * *

“We’re going in today, huh?” Chie says after listening to Naoto’s explaining, a frown on her face, and Yukiko looks at her with quiet concern. Naoto nods, her gaze elsewhere. “D’ya think we’re gonna be able to find Adachi in there too? I want to kick his fucking ass.”

“I don’t know.” Naoto says, “we’ll just have to go into the TV, and check.”

There isn’t a lot of fanfare when they step into the TV world. The Velvet Room door is still as always and Teddie waits for them, but he looks… unhappy. “Teddie?” Naoto calls out and he turns to face her, his expression not lighting up in the slightest. “You probably know why we’re here, don’t you?”

He looks down, paws rubbing together and he nods, “… sensei’s palace.” is the only thing he says before walking aside, waiting for them to get their weapons as per usual. The door to the Velvet Room swings open and it is mostly empty, save for Naoya who sits there and stares off into the distance.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” he says, as per usual, an easygoing smile on his face even as they all are well aware he knows what is happening. “Looking for Yu-san, huh?” Naoya continues on, not bothered by the glares sent his way. “Well, good luck with that. Your opponent is going to be quite the tough one, I hope you’re all ready for that.”

Kanji steps forth. “Issat Adachi dude here?” Kanji asks and Naoya just smiles at him before he nods his head. “Ya gonna tell us where, or what?”

“Don’t you have better things to worry about?” Naoya says, “like saving Narukami Yu? A lot of people have an interest in seeing what he does, you know. I’m one of them.”

Chie manages to restrain Kanji and keep him from punching Naoya while everyone else gathers their weapons and step back out to meet up with Teddie. He still looks upset and tense, stress pouring off him in waves. It is Rise who steps up and nudges at him gently, jostling him out of his thoughts and he looks up towards her.

“You have to take us to him,” Rise says gently, “worrying won’t help us find him, Teddie-kun.”

His expression falls further by he takes her words to heart anyway - he leads them along to where Yu’s palace is, his nose up in the air while he tracks the place down.

“Do you think Yu-kun’s palace is going to be harder than the rest?” Rise asks Naoto while she falls behind and she looks at the ex-idol with a blank expression.

“I hope not, but it might be. Naoya-san that people have a vested interest in this, don’t they?” she frowns, “I wish he would tell us more, but I doubt questioning him would have made him talk.” Rise looks down thoughtfully at that, a frown on her face over whatever thoughts rise up in her head. “It must be strange to have your first real taste of being with in the TV world to save someone, only for that person to be the one who saved you in the first place, isn’t it?”

She nods absent-mindedly, “a little. I guess I didn’t expect Yu-kun to get caught but for him to go to Adachi’s place willingly… I wonder why.”

“I wonder why, as well.”

They have never gone to a palace with an aura as oppressive as this one. Standing over them, tall and drooping with black ooze and many different imagery, is Yu’s palace. Butterflies hover miserably around the place, making Naoto think of funeral attendees mourning for the death of their loved one. There is no door to the palace - not in the traditional sense, she thinks, but still she cannot help but share the doubts of everyone else as they approach this monolithic building.

“You sure this is the right place?” Kanji asks, the first to break the silence from being near such a daunting palace.

Teddie rubs his paws together, anxiety clear all over him. “It’s where sensei’s scent ends.” he says, voice quieter than usual, “he’s in there. I can sense him moving around right now - but… but he’s not the only one.”

“What?” Yosuke says, “someone - someone else is there too?! Is it human?”

Teddie frowns, “no.” he says a bit hesitantly and Rise walks up to put a comforting hand on his back, silently encouraging him to keep going, “it’s… the scent of a God.”

“Please guide us as you always do,” Naoto says before anyone can say anything else, “and help us find Yu-senpai.”

“I will. I promise - I’ll, I’ll help you find sensei. But… but I dunno… I dunno if I can. I’ll still try, okay? I promise I’ll still try.”

A promise to try is better than nothing. Naoto can only hope that Teddie will reclaim his confidence soon enough. The thought, as well, of there being a God within the palace, stalking after Yu… it makes her feel uneasy, like they are seconds away from a massive bomb going off. She tries not to let any uncertainty show. For her to falter now will mean everyone else will lose heart and she cannot let that happen.

* * *

Every door within their palace leads to another place full of memories - screams echo endlessly within the walls of this prison, faces spit at them and hands claw at their clothes, yet Yu cannot stop here. Their Shadow is still leading them somewhere through this maze, never once stopping nor slowing down to let Yu breathe. They have to follow it, they cannot lag behind.

Even as remnants of their fear cling at them and refuse to let go, even as insecurities arise and rip and tear at their flesh, Yu cannot stop. Their legs burn, their lungs working overtime to make sure they get the proper amount of oxygen, and their heart slams ruthlessly against their ribcage, rattling it as it does.

They can feel the eyes of that presence on them, watching them as they go through another door, climb up another set of stairs, and push their way past a corridor of unwanted memories. Writhing masses of complaining, bemoaning teachers block their path - they can hear their mother crying within the distance, yelling at their principal. They still remember the day one teacher finally gives enough of a shit to call their parents but still not enough to wrench Yu away from the crowd of students trying to gang up on them.

Her sobs haunt their dreams at times. If they close their eyes now they are sure they will see her face, remember that time she cries when she thinks Yu is asleep. He hears her father suggesting that he quit his job and stay at home with Yu, perhaps even home school her. They think of the guilt that weakens their bones, the self-hatred that rampages their mind upon seeing how upset their parents are.

_It’s your fault that happened._ The voice says, bored as ever. _It’s your fault. God, how stupid are you? What makes you think these friends are any different, huh? They’re going to abandon you once they know what you are. Dumbass. Couldn’t even just live a quiet and simple life like you should have._

They don’t remember when this voice disappears - perhaps a few days before they are to head to Inaba, their mind set on abandoning their past identity and living forever like this. Perhaps on the day when they impulsively cut their hair that short, when they accept that hiding everything is better than to let anyone else be upset because of them.

No one deserves to feel that way because of Yu. They don’t deserve it.

_You really aren’t worth it._

This voice is the one they hear when they still went to that school, hiding in the nurse’s office to clean up bruises and wear the spare uniform they hide there. The nurse back then was a wonderful woman, so empathetic and kind that she always hid Yu and made sure no bullies found them. She would write down excuses to keep Yu from being in P.E and made sure that they never got in trouble for the rare occasion they skipped classes.

The Yu of back then was a leech, a parasite that fed off of her kindness. They vowed to do that no longer. The Yu of now… the Yu of now realises that that voice sounds suspiciously like the girl who reveals their secret to everyone, branding them as an ‘other’ who deserves to be hurt and belittled.

Their Shadow comes to a halt, standing before a door at the end of this hallway. It turns around and looks at Yu with their dulled gaze, tired and worn down from months of abuse. Turning around, it pushes at the door - harder, harder, until it gives way. They are at the end of this chase.

Yu follows their Shadow and all the voices come to an abrupt stop. The walls and floor clear way of any photographs, faces, or bodies. The zombies all disintegrate into nothingness. There is nothing but an endless buzz within the air as Yu follows their Shadow into the room.

It stands there within the centre of the room, looking dirty and aloof, and Yu’s breath catches within their throat. ****“Are you going to look at yourself?” ****the Shadow says when Yu’s gaze falls to the ground, “****or are you going to keep ignoring me? Are you going to pretend I don’t exist? That you don’t wish you looked like this again?”****

“I know how this goes.” Yu says, hands balling in their hair, “so, I’m not going to reject you. I’m going to-”

****“Accept me?” ****the Shadow cuts in harshly, ****“you think that simply saying that will free you of all of this? Do you not see how messed up your palace is? How messed up you are? You’re dying on the inside, but you’re in so much denial you can’t even see it. You won’t reject me? Is that really what you think you’re doing?”****

Yu takes a step back when their Shadow takes one forward. Its uniform is ruined, destroyed as it sways within a wind that should not exist. ****“I’ve been here for so long, waiting for you to stop hurting. But you just won’t stop! You just won’t! You can’t look at yourself and see what everyone else sees in you. You’re so tiring to not but yourself. How much longer are you going to bottle everything up?”****

“I’m not doing any of that-” Yu tries to say, yet the Shadow screeches so horrifically, so loudly, that they have to fight back their own scream while they fall upon their knees and cover their head and ears with their arms, “STOP! I’m sorry - I’m sorry - please, please stop, please stop, it hurts… it hurts!”

****“You’re doing this to yourself! This is your own fault!” ****the Shadow screeches on, ****“you won’t even look at yourself! You did such a good job getting rid of everything, or maybe you just threw it under your bed and hoped it would never crawl right out, huh? You won’t look at yourself, at me, at who you were!****

** **“Ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away! Pretending it never happened isn’t going to help you! Why do you keep hiding behind the wall you’ve made?”** **

They press their forehead onto the floor, the weight of its voice crushing down onto their spine. Nails scrape along their scalp, digging in deeply as if trying to draw blood. They shake and tremble before their Shadow - they know how this should go but why can’t they say anything? Why won’t it listen? They are trying, they are trying so hard… they’re…

“I want to forget.” Yu sobs out, “I want to forget, I don’t - I don’t want to… I want to forget. Who cares if that’s pathetic? I want to _forget. _Just let me forget… just let me…”

****“No.” ****it says, voice bitter, ****“I won’t. You need to look at yourself. You will never, ever grow up this way. Look at me. Get up, and look at me. Get up! GET UP! Look at me! You’ll never, ever become better this way! GET UP!”****

* * *

Yu’s palace is _harsh. _That is the only way Rise can describe it as the group push past the slimy wall of the palace and stumble into a foul-smelling hallway. The voices do not make it any easier - the screams are loud, overbearing, and every line makes the group flinch and stare at one another in barely held back horror.

_“You fucking pervert freak!”_

_“How can you think of yourself like that? You’re just making excuses, huh!? You freak! Pervert! Peeping on girls like that - you’re disgusting. Disgusting! Disgusting! Trash! Scumbag!”_

_“You thought you were so clever, huh? ‘Look at meee! I’m not a girl or a boy!’ Yeah, right! If I rip those panties right off of you, we’ll see exactly what you are.”_

_“Piece of SHIT freak! I can’t believe you tricked me into liking you!”_

There are far, far worse - some of them accusing Yu of horrible, horrible things that she will never see him doing, that he is better off dead, calling him slurs and degrading words that make Rise want to fight and beat up all these people who tell him these things. Voices degrading Yu for not calling himself a girl, for declaring himself as neither a boy or girl… mocking _them _for it, for their existence with inappropriate and frankly creepy words.

“An… x-gender?” Naoto says upon hearing more and more of those voices. She doesn’t entirely understand it, having never heard of that term until now, but she still is enough of a decent person to know that Yu doesn’t deserve any of this.

“Who the fuck says these kind of things?” Yosuke says, his voice tense and his expression tight, like he is one second away from imploding. “Who - who cares what Yu calls him- themself? He - they - they… Yu doesn’t deserve this - he, no… they don’t…” he covers his face with his palm and tries to breathe to calm down, Chie walking up to rub at his shoulder comfortingly. “Yu…”

Teddie’s voice breaks everyone away from the situation at hand briefly, reminding them all that he is still watching out for them. _“Guys… I - I don’t know where you should go.”_

“Huh? What? Whaddaya mean ya dunno?”

_“I- I don’t see anything. Everything’s muddy! It’s like - it’s like something’s trying to keep me outta here... L-look! I’ll try and figure it out, okay?! But - but it’s impossible to see anything. Please, be careful!”_

His warning doesn’t come without reason - the first demons they run into while trying to navigate this labyrinth are brutal, nearly forcing all of them to escape if not for Rise and Chie managing to lock the demons down with ice and brutal strikes. Every twist and turn takes the group down into more and more hallways which all look at the same, full of screaming accusations and vulgar statements which make Rise’s blood boil.

How long has Yu endured this in secret? Everyone has things they hide from others, of course they do, but… but to think that Yu has been harbouring these hateful remarks all on their own, without telling anyone except for perhaps parents and aunt… it makes her heart twinge and tighten. Not because they don’t tell her anything, but because no one should deal with this alone. No one should have to hide their pain behind a polite smile.

No one deserves this level of abuse.

Every door that opens leads to an empty room that connects to another hallway. Zombies hobble at them, falling down with a single bullet to the head as Naoto shoots with frightening accuracy. Pictures line the walls - of a Yu from the past, as beautiful and as ethereal as they are now, with long hair that sits at their mid-back, dressed in a girl’s school uniform. The photos warp as they travel along - from surrounded by friends to alone and covered in bruises, of pictures of them hidden away in random parts of the school throughout the day.

Alone. Isolated. _Hated._

****“Get UP!” ****a voice echoes throughout the halls, sounding eerily similar to Yu’s, and they look at one another when all of them realise that it is the Shadow speaking. ****“Look at me! Stop hiding! Get up and LOOK AT ME!”****

“Teddie!” Naoto yells, “you need to find Yu, right now!”

_“I can’t!” _he yells out, _“I can’t!”_

Another door opens, another hallway greets them, and Kanji punches the wall while Yosuke tries not to scream.

** **“Look at me! Get up!”** **

Every twist and turn takes them no closer nor farther from Yu. The voice is always the same level, same volume, and panic rises inside of Rise. What if they never find out where Yu is? What if - what if they end up dead, like the reporter?

** **“Get up! Why won’t you get up? You can’t do this. You have to get up!”** **

Sobs fill the hallways, Yu’s voice begging quietly for the Shadow to ‘please let them forget, please let them forget.’

“No!” Yosuke yells out, “no, no, no, no! Why do we keep running in circles?! Why!? They’re going to fucking die! They’re going to _fucking die!”_

Every step taken feels like a step backwards. The demons only grow more oppressive as the group run in circles, Chie and Kanji getting worn down from all of the constant fighting. They are all on a wild goose chase with no end, no way of figuring out where to go. Rise, helplessly, can only watch as Yosuke and Yukiko push themselves to try and heal the two, to keep the two front liners going.

** **“You just… you just have to get up and look at me.”** **

“Because I want you to go away!” Yu’s voice rings out, loud and heavy, “I don’t want to remember! I want to forget! I want to forget everything that’s happened! It hurts - I don’t want it to hurt anymore.”

Teddie gasps suddenly, _“guys! I think - I think I got it. I can do something! I can get you to sensei!”_

The area around them begin to shake while Teddie begins to make heavy sounds of exertion, pain filling his voice as well. Whatever he is doing, he is clearly pushing himself past his point and Rise opens her mouth to instinctively tell him to stop.

Naoto’s hand on her shoulder stops her.

“Maybe it’s wrong but I just want to forget everything that’s happened, I just want to live on the way I am. What’s so wrong with that!? Why is it so wrong of me to do that?! Why! Why! _WHY!”_

A wall right next to the group begins to crumble, cracks appearing all across its surface while Teddie whimpers. Rise stands back, braces herself, and then clasps her hands together and begins praying. Yu’s crying can be heard above all else, sounding loud and thunderous.

“Just go away! Just go away! I don’t care if I’m a coward for this! I don’t care! I don’t care! JUST GO AWAY!”

A hole bursts through the wall just in time for Yu’s Shadow to take a step back, fall onto its own knees, and scream. It does not turn into a horrific abomination - instead, it simply falls to its side, limp and motionless before being absorbed into the palace itself.

“YU!” Yosuke screams and Yu looks over to him, eyes wide with surprise upon seeing him, before they suddenly start convulsing. They curl forward, grab at their chest, and start coughing and wheezing, blood and saliva escaping their throat in a messy splatter. The moment Yosuke dives down for them is the exact moment in which Yu suddenly goes still and falls down onto the floor.

He catches them just before they hit the floor, lift Yu up, and holds them up within his arms as he turns around to face everyone.

Immediately, Rise can tell that Yu isn’t simply just ‘unconscious’ and so can everyone else, judging from the grave looks on their faces. An ominous rumbling echoes through the palace and Yosuke holds onto Yu’s unconscious form protectively and they all gasp as the walls fall apart, melting away until they can see the TV world...

And off into the distance, looking at all of them with a strange, insincere smile is a tall woman with grey hair that stretches all the way to her knees and dull, red eyes, radiating unimaginable power and strong chaotic forces. Rise stares at her, they all do, and watches as she takes a step back and fades away into the dense fog of the TV world. _‘This is the God that was in Yu’s palace.’ _she thinks, _‘but why? Who is she?’_

Teddie’s cry of pain is what brings her back to the real world and she rushes over to him, kneeling before him when she sees him on all-fours. “Are - are you gonna be okay?”

“I… I…” Teddie looks up at Yosuke and lets out another cry, “sensei? Why is sensei unconscious? Was… was I too late?”

“No, Teddie.” Yukiko says, her voice soft, “we were all too late.” she looks at each of them one-by-one, her lips set into a grim line, “we failed.”

Butterflies gather around Yu, somehow distressed, and they continue to follow the group until they are all the way back to the main hub. The Velvet Door is shut tightly, refusing to budge no matter how much Naoto shoves her body against it. The mood is heavy, dour, and only worsens when they step outside of the TV and end up in cheerful, jovial Junes.

Uchida is waiting for them in the electronics department, Naoto probably having sent her a text message before they embarked on this trip and she wonders how long the officer has been waiting for them. She takes one look at Yu, then into Yosuke’s face, and doesn’t need Naoto, nor anyone else, to explain to her what happened.

She takes Yu to the hospital, bringing the group with her. Dojima has to be the one to drive anyone who can’t fit into the car, her expression unreadable and her body tense, and no one can say anything to her or Nanako, who is terrifyingly silent as well. It is when everyone steps out of the car, when she is alone with Nanako behind the driver’s seat, that Dojima curls over and begins crying, a scene that Rise sees by chance when she looks over her shoulder.

Doctors and nurses rush to help Yu when they take in the sight of them - blood on their collar and around their mouth, skin a sickly pallor. Seeing them stick an oxygen mask on top of Yu and then wheel them away on a stretcher makes Rise feel awfully, terribly sick.

She can only imagine what it must feel like for Dojima and Nanako who join the group just as Uchida gives Yu off to the care of the doctors.

They all sit outside the room where the doctors are looking Yu over and settling them into a hospital bed, one nurse opening the door _ages _later to ask Dojima to come in. Nanako trails in with her. Minutes later, they both step outside and Dojima closes the door with one trembling hand, her shoulders tense and gaze staring off into space. Nanako’s face is frozen into that of an eternally broken expression, as though she is suddenly unable to cry.

“Yu’s in a coma,” Dojima says meekly, “and the doctors don’t know if they’ll ever wake up again.” her faces twists up and she hides her face in Uchida’s shoulder when the officer takes her in for a tight hug. Nanako hugs Uchida’s leg as well and she brings one hand down to ruffle her little head, letting them both finally cry into her and take comfort in her presence.

No one can look at either of them, knowing that they failed in doing the one thing they promised to do, and their cries echo within the hallway and all the way to the changing world outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Hums)


	53. Chapter 51

“We need to find Adachi.” Chie says once they all meet up at Naoto’s place, officer Uchida still out and about trying to do her job as a detective. “They’re _never _going to be able to find him.”

Naoto prods at her lower lip with her thumb, looking quite haggard. Her hat sits on the table next to her and without it she looks quite young now, too young to be doing something like this. When Yosuke thinks about it, they all are. They haven’t even graduated high-school and here they are, chasing after the impossible. He runs a hand through his hair, trying to calm down and not flip out in front of everyone from sheer anger.

Right now, everyone needs to be calm and if he just starts flipping the fuck out then that is not going to help anybody. “Where’s officer Uchida right now?” he says after a while when Chie is too busy fuming, Rise herself trying to think of solutions to their predicament, Yukiko seems to be trying to calm Chie down, and Kanji is staring off and looking quietly mad. “Maybe we can talk to her and have her help us out in the TV world, she’s a devil summoner, right? We should-”

Naoto’s phone rings and her hand whips out to get it. She doesn’t even bother to go to another room to talk as she tiredly answers Uchida’s phone call and -

She abruptly sits up, looking even more alarmed, and everyone shares a look while Naoto sits there. “Is that so,” she says, eerily calm now, and she grabs at her hat and clenches it in a tight fist, probably ruining it forever, “that’s not a mascot costume.” Yosuke’s heart plummets straight into his stomach when he hears that. “Bring him here. Don’t let anyone touch him and don’t let him talk to anyone. Tell him that Naoto said to stay quiet. And again, are you sure? Are you one-hundred percent sure in regards to what is happening with the TV? … okay. Thank you.”

She hangs up, stares at her phone, and puts it down onto the table with a shaky hand - not one of sadness or fear but one where Naoto seems to be trying her best not to throw her phone at the wall and break it into a million pieces. “We have gotten an update in regards to the televisions,” Naoto says with a deathly calm voice, “it seems that officer Uchida can no longer enter the TV world.”

“WHAT?!” escapes everyone in unison, the information catching them off-guard. As though to test this, Rise gets up and marches over to the TV in the room and pushes her hands against it. And pushes. And _strains. _Nothing happens - not even a dip of the pinky. She takes a step back and Yukiko manages to catch her when she falls backwards. “N-no way…” Rise says, “m-maybe it’s a problem with the TV itself?”

“She tried the one that we usually went through.” Naoto says, “given that she was able to go through it before even though she wasn’t on the Midnight Channel, I am inclined to believe her.”

Yosuke gnaws at his lower lip before speaking up, “maybe I’m wrong but… is… is Teddie…?”

“Yes,” Naoto says gravely, “yes, he is.” she comes to a stand and looks at her crumpled hat, putting it on her head regardless when she looks at everyone evenly. “Teddie is in the human world now and it will only be a matter of time before every other demon follows after.”

* * *

A dense cloud of fog surrounds them, everywhere they look. A question gnaws at their head - _where am I? _even if they are well-aware that no one will answer them. Heaviness drags at their bones, anchoring them to where they sit when they try to stand. A moment of distress comes and goes, their mind too fuzzy for them to be able to concentrate on the world around them. There is a stubborn feeling of _wrongness _that clings to their taste buds, peels away their finger nails. If they do not focus then - then what will happen to them here?

Within the belly of the fog they sit, unsure of where else to go, unable to even move their legs. They bring their hands up, watch as wisps of the fog flow hither and thither between fingers, and magic hums at their fingertips. Though they know they have used this magic for months upon months, going through adventures unimaginable, they cannot think of any spells. Nothing comes to mind, not a sliver of an idea.

How long are they going to just sit here? How long have they even been here? Yu stares out into the distance and gets nothing, their lips refusing to cooperate and let them call out for help. They are like an abandoned statue and thus, they wait like one.

Hours pass. Maybe perhaps days. Maybe it is only minutes. Perhaps it is only seconds. How is Yu to know? They are stuck in nothing but thick fog with no one to entertain them, no one to speak to them, to keep them tethered to reality.

Seconds, hours, weeks, minutes, months pass before they hear something ahead of them. They lift their head up, watching two dark figures approach from beyond their comprehension and their heart pounds against their ribcage, sweat dripping down the back of their neck.

The first to step forth is a woman - no, a _Goddess. _Power radiates from her in endless waves, reminding them of graves and mold, of food baking out in an endless summer sun. Her strength crushes their lungs together, creates cracks along their ribcage. They know this person - they have seen her before, with head bowed down and husky voice offering them something.

Impulsiveness leads them to her after their first meeting - she tells them a truth, two, and nothing more.

“Can you hear me now, Conduit?” she says, her voice even more familiar now - not husky and almost soothing yet something sinister lays beneath. “To think that you would have grown this much,” she says, “that you would truly become someone worthy of my attention…” she raises a hand and Yu follows after the motion - they stand upon shaky legs that desperately wish to buckle and fall, wanting to do nothing more than t shatter into a million pieces. “Then, perhaps now that you are here, you can hear me now.

“You have the power to change the world. Is that not wonderful?”

The second figure finally steps out from the fog and makes himself known before their version. He is not Adachi Tohru, no, not with his hazel eyes and chocolate hair, not with that lazy smile and the look of someone who holds unimaginable amounts of knowledge. No - not when he dresses in a nice suit, black and red that pop, and grins at Yu in a way that makes them feel horrifically sick.

“Look upon me Conduit,” the Goddess says and Yu unthinkingly obeys, “I am the Goddess, Izanami. I, who have watched over humanity for a long time - I once vowed to slay those whom my beloved birthed, yet now I know better. For as long as I have watched, I came to realise the foolishness of my revenge - no, humans are beautiful creatures unable to live in peace because of the Gods that meddle.

“Conduit, soon, years from now, this world shall once again be forced to choose between freedom and order, to believe in either the Morning Sun or the Great Creator. How long must humans be toyed with, by the powers that be?” she takes a step forward and Yu cannot tear their gaze away, cannot run, from the beautiful visage of the great Izanami. She reaches out towards them and cups their cheeks, their neck having to arch so that they may be able to look into her eyes properly. “But you, you have made my plans and dreams possible. Look outside, Conduit.”

She moves their head against their will, making them look to the left, and Yu cannot even gasp at the sight revealed to them. As though they are watching some sort of sick, twisted show, they witness officer Uchida calling upon her demons to try and route people to somewhere safe, guiding them all to the hospital that Yu first stays at, and their make-shift investigation team is among them.

Hoards of demon that they have seen within the TV world wreck havoc among the peaceful town of Inaba, their bodies ramming against an unseen barrier that prevents them from escaping further out into Tokyo. “These demons shall be the genesis of the rebellion against the Gods,” Izanami says, her voice ever calm even as Yu watches with wide-eyed horror at their friends having to save innocent humans from being devoured, “I shall come upon humanity and give to them hope, allow them to see themselves for who they truly are. Mankind’s self-actualization means the birth of Demons, and so all Humankind shall become Demonoids.”

“Not without a catch.” a separate voice says - it sounds nothing like Adachi Tohru, no. It is almost like liquid honey hiding rat poison and Yu is made to look back at Izanami when he begins speaking. “Izanami and I made a deal, Narukami Yu.” he says their name with the same relish that they recall from their dream. Who is this being?

“Humanity shall be forever be struck by the whims of Gods and Demons - this will happen, again and again, and someone always has to make a choice. Philemon and I will return to look upon you all, in smaller scales than before, and even the Self shall not save you.”

Izanami’s gaze turns tender upon Yu, so utterly gentle and kind, as though she did not trigger the end of the world. “Lend to me your power, Narukami Yu, and this cycle will not repeat for ages to come. I shall shepherd humanity into a land of freedom from the Gods, I shall give them strength to fight back for as long as able, and I will have my beloved to ensure that Humanity does not die down. Lend me your power so that I may break this barrier over Inaba and allow for the continued life of Japan.

“This is the duty given to you by contract which bound you to Philemon, and the guiding hand of Nyarlathotep which led you into this shadowy world. Lend me your hand, so that I may save you from the fate you agreed to…”

* * *

Watching Uchida in action gives Kanji a sense of hope - she clearly knows what she is doing while she shouts at everyone to follow her demons and escape from the ones trying to devour them while she also fights the hoard off. All of them can summon their personas now, which means that Chie, Rise and himself are staying behind to try and keep any demons from getting atop of the citizens of Inaba.

Chie and Kanji because they are both very bulky because of their personas and Rise because she can wall the demons off with her ice spells - it helps too that she can provide a little bit of support and is capable of speeding all of the citizens along. She is extremely agile thanks to her persona, meaning that she can catch up to any stragglers and save them from danger.

Yukiko and Yosuke stay behind to heal anybody who got hurt while also blasting off any creature who got through. Naoto is with Uchida, helping her guided survivors along and defend. The hospital has a barrier around it - not in the same way that Inaba does, where there is an invisible dome - that keeps non-devil summoner demons from getting in. He doesn’t get why but Uchida tells them all, briefly, that she suspects it is because Yu is in here that the hospital is safe.

Doctors and nurses are working over time to treat any injuries so that Yukiko and Yosuke can conserve their energy. Yet it has been a long fucking time now and they have been spending close to six straight hours trying to navigate the hellscape that was once Inaba. They can’t keep doing this forever. They are going to come back into Inaba again to find any others who’ve remained and managed to hide - especially when there are only seven people who can actually do anything.

“How long can we keep this up?!” Chie yells, “do we have everybody in the hospital yet?!”

“I dunno!” Kanji yells back, voice hoarse, “fuck, man! I’m gettin’ tired!”

Rise jumps in next to them, drenched in sweat and red-faced, “Uchida said that we gotta get back into the hospital! Yukiko and Yosuke almost collapsed! Hurry up!”

The air inside of the hospital is much, much cleaner than the ash-heavy air outside. Kanji stumbles out and clasps at his knees, panting heavily as he finally gets to breathe in something that isn’t demon guts, shit, and soot.

“We’ve managed to wrangle a lot of people into the hospital,” Uchida says when everyone is grouped up again, the devil summoner looking better than all of them combined but still quite tired, “but one of my demons scouted along and said that she saw a few more out there, so we have to rest up as quickly as we can and get them in here.”

Yosuke curses. “What’re we gonna do? There’s a barrier around Inaba, sure, but - but it can’t last forever.”

“And we can’t go into the TV world either,” Rise says, a frown on her face, “but - but how many demons are there? Every time we kill one, eight more come out… it’s like a Hydra’s head situation…” she wipes the sweat off her brow while she sits next to Kanji, her arms wrapping around her legs and hugging her knees to her chest. “This is… this is so crazy… is this really the end of the world?”

“There must be something we have missed.” Naoto says, looking uncharacteristically ruffled - though, Kanji thinks it’s very, very called for in a situation like this. “The being more than likely responsible for this… I suppose it was the one involved within Narukami Yu’s palace. That being has yet to appear here, and I surmise we must get back into the TV world… but how?”

A loud clap catches their attention and all of them whip around to tell the person off only for silence to escape their lips when the group realises who it is.

Naoya stands there, dressed in the same outfit he wore within the Velvet Room, and smiles at them all. There is some surprise over seeing him here, even though logically there shouldn’t be. He lets his arms drop down to his sides after a few moments pass with everyone’s attention on him. “Tamaki,” he says gently when he faces Uchida, who just stares at him like he has grown two heads, “thanks to the two police officers you have guarding Yu-chan’s room, I can’t go in. Would you mind giving me permission to get in there?”

“... why?” Uchida says, “he - they’re unconscious. What are you hoping to do in there, Naoya?”

Despite her clear distrust, he just keeps smiling. “I must be there for the moment they make their decision of course,” he says cryptically, as always, “you were wondering about it, weren’t you? If there is any way to stop the influx of demons, to keep the barrier forever up? The only person who can help you is Yu, the only person who can break or strengthen the barriers is Yu, and one targeted by the desires of a Goddess is Yu.

“They have made a deal with me, and it is almost time to collect. Though there may be loopholes even I cannot think of, I must still be by Narukami Yu’s side. I am the one who owns this iteration of the Velvet Room and it is up to me to abide by the laws set by Philemon. It is the role of the Conduit to decide, and it is my role to watch them every step they take.”

It takes a long minute before Uchida relents and calls everyone else, updating them on the situation with Naoya. He walks past her and places a hand on her shoulder - one meant to be comforting, yet clearly causing her more distress. There is an elevator nearby and Uchida tells him the way to it and he bows before her before giving the rest of the group the same courtesy.

“The Velvet Room waits for you, as always, and my associates will help you as best they can,” he says while waving a hand, magic gathering around to make the ever familiar sight of the Velvet Room door appear on the wall, “and I will wait for Yu within their room. May they make a decision that you all find satisfactory.”


	54. Chapter 52 - Ending 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit:** My fic is now capable of being commented on by both registered and unregistered/guest users! Sorry, I didn't actually realise I had that turned off.

Izanami lets go of them eventually and, whether she wants it or not, the fog wraps around her and swallows her into its silvery gullet. They are left alone with this Adachi lookalike who stares at them with a shaky smile trying to stop laughter. Amusement dances within gentle, hazel eyes and Yu stares through the being that pretends to be someone they know him not to be -

Adachi does not look as kind as this man does who radiates a paradoxically cruel energy. He stands up straight and confident, hands in his pockets and his smiling stretching far too widely.

“You’re probably wondering why this all happened, aren’t you?” he says when Yu just stares at him, unmoving and unspeaking, and he shrugs when they glare at him, “have you realised who I am yet?” their lips press into a flat line and they keep their glare up but he doesn’t seem all that bothered by their meek defiance. “Surely you remember me from your dream. The great Nyarlathotep, the one who has been watching you for quite a while now.”

Yu stares at him, then back towards the ‘outside’ - they take in the many demons that are crawling out, most from a gaping chasm within the sky and very few from the televisions that let them slip in and out of the demon world so many times. Magic and bodies slam against the small barrier around the hospital, an even larger one present throughout all of Inaba to keep these foul creatures from running free. They witness their friends searching for any survivors out in the darkened air of Inaba, takes in how buildings are being destroyed and the corpses of a few unfortunate paint the streets.

“Is this the end?” Yu finally asks and they look back towards Nyarlathotep, who just grins maniacally and bites his lower lip to stifle a laugh. “Is everything I’ve worked for all for nothing?”

He shrugs, “I’d say no - after all, you got stronger for it. But if you’re asking in terms of ‘stopping this from happening’? Yes, it was for nothing. You worked only to bring this to fruition, and now it is your choice as to whether or not the world becomes one with demons, guided by the hand of Izanami, or if you do something else.

“The only person who can do anything about the barriers now… is you.” they clench their fists and look down, trying to hold back the urge to deck Nyarlathotep in the face, just give him a good punch to knock him down a peg. “There’s someone else who has something to say, if you let him in.”

“No.” Yu says and Nyarlathotep actually stops at that, looking briefly surprised. “I don’t want to listen to any more excuses from you or anyone else. You are a powerful being, aren’t you? Izanami would never have been able to do this without your powers.” he looks at them with feigned disinterest, even as his eyes glimmer with curiosity over what Yu has to say. “Then… can you send me back? Before any of this started?”

Nyarlathotep stares at him for a moment, bows his head, then rubs at the back of his neck while he stares off into the distance before his eyes flicker back onto Yu. “It is possible, though you will be using your own powers to do so. Is that what you really wish for? For you to be thrown back in time?”

“Not without a condition.” Yu says shakily, their eyes meeting Nyarlathotep’s straight on. “I will not forget what happened. I refuse to forget what happened. If I don’t remember, then this will happen again and again, and I will run in to you every single time, demanding the same thing _every single time. _Send me back, and do not let me forget.”

Wind picks up all around them and the fog flies away into nothingness, Izanami taken with it. The rush of air around the two of them feels almost comforting, like a gentle caress after a long, busy day. Darkness surrounds them all over - an area where not even light can escape from - and Nyarlathotep stares at them with an expression they cannot read.

“Your wish will be granted.” Nyarlathotep says, lips slowly curling up into a smirk, “you’ll go back in time, branded with the fate of being the Conduit but never arriving here in Inaba. You’ll remember everything that happened here, all the bonds you’ve established with these people, and you will never forget them.”

The wind picks up even further and Yu instinctively brings their arms up to shield their eyes only to realise that their arms are fading, breaking apart into gentle leaves to be carried away. They look down at their hands as they fade further and further away from existence. Gazing back at Nyarlathotep reveals to them his smile and cruel, cruel gaze.

“And they will never forget this either.” is the last thing Nyarlathotep says before Yu is completely and utterly _gone._

_…_

**… _…_  
**

_As per his promise, Narukami Yu appears on the day they agreed to go to Inaba. His last words are all but forgotten as they sprint down to their parents and beg the two of them not to spend Yu towards Inaba - tears gathering in their eyes as they do, unintentional but enough to startle their parents into listening. Their mother begins to call upon other relatives, asking for patience when she explains what she wants to do, and Yu wonders if they did the right thing._

_Time passes and Yu reaches the week before they travel to Inaba in the prior time line. A deep haze settles in their mind, their thoughts having been listless since they successfully begged their parents to keep them from going to Inaba. On a normal day in which they take a walk, Yu does not take notice that the light is still red, their head heavy with the knowledge of what happens in Inaba, and dies within the busy, relentless traffic._

_Adachi Tohru is caught for the murder of Yamano Mayumi, realisation and memories dawning in too late before a security guard takes him away to the police station. There is no empowered Izanami here to save him and, thus, he spends a good portion of his life behind bars, face in his palms and mind screaming at him to know why he got so angry over a simple disagreement of values. _

_The original investigation team wait for the day Narukami Yu comes, learn far too late that they are dead, and weep for what never will be. Even as Kanji, Yukiko, Chie and Yosuke are all friends, Rise cannot bring herself to quit her life as an idol and Naoto lives on pretending she is a boy, wondering when she should reveal herself._

_Dojima Chisato remembers only little snippets of what was, with Nanako remembering none at all. What Chisato does know, however, is that she loved Yu and still blamed herself for the travesty that befell them._

_Decades later, when the original investigation team are now old and different, when Adachi dies in prison and Chisato passes away peacefully from old age, and Nanako has her own family, Izanami is given another opportunity to enact her revenge. Though the original Conduit never arrives to Inaba and passes away, Nyarlathotep still gleefully drags Philemon back from the depths and forces him to choose another vessel at random._

_It does not matter who, nor why. The only thing matters is that Nyarlathotep is still willing to hear Izanami out, for his thirst for discord and chaos will never be sated, and her bitterness and need for revenge direct itself towards the Gods._

_And so, this is the result of the choice that Narukami Yu made…_


	55. Chapter 52 - Ending 2

When they hear the possibility of there being a third person trying to convince them over an ideal they more than likely do not care for, Yu cannot help but grow incredibly, absolutely tired. They look away from Nyarlathotep, who simply waits for their answer and they ponder what it is that they can or cannot do. Should they let this other person in? Releasing a sigh, Yu shakes their head and looks evenly at Nyarlathotep.

“So, you will not let that person in, huh?” Nyarlathotep says, amusement twinging his words, and Yu just shrugs. He tilts his head to the side and watches Yu, hands shoved in his pockets while he gauges their reaction. “So, what will you do then, Narukami Yu? Izanami is still waiting for you to make your choice, but I’ve made sure she can’t interfere on our conversation anymore. It’s you and me now, and I am here to grant your wish given that you won’t let our third companion in.”

“And how can I be so sure that you are not lying to me about what you’re doing?” Yu asks a little numbly, “how can I be sure that you’re going to trick me?”

Nyarlathotep just throws his hands up in a dramatic shrug, an uncaring gesture towards a person slowly echoing his sentiments. “You cannot. Anything I can tell you may be a lie, or it may be the truth. If I am to tell that I have nothing to gain from this, that I am not doing this for me but instead simple because I was interested in this, then you would be right in thinking I am a liar. I am the only one who can do anything for you, now, and the only one who will listen to you.

“Don’t you want to do something about the world outside? The demons are ever endless, ever waiting. Won’t you tell me what you plan to do?”

Yu takes a look towards the ‘outside’ in which Nyarlathotep refers to and they think, and wonder, and eventually resign themself to the thoughts dancing within their head. They hear the roar of demons, listen to the screams of innocent people and the frenetic yelling of their investigation team, and then looks back towards Nyarlathotep who waits patiently for their answer.

“Then, if I’m the only one who can do anything about the barriers and the demons…” they cannot help but feel fatigued as they speak, as though just the idea of telling Nyarlathotep what it is that they want makes them want to just pass out on the spot. “… is there any way for me to seal them away?”

He gives a strange, crooked smile, “of course. But there is a great price for that for it will be your powers that we expend. You are inexorably tied to Inaba now, after all.” they feel as though there is something else he is not telling them. The look on his face tells Yu that he will never tell them either. “Are you sure that this is what you want?” Nyarlathotep asks in what they assume to be a rare case of… no, not concern, but perhaps a genuine curiosity in knowing if they have second thoughts or no.

“If you seal the portal to the demon world, then… will the demons present die?”

Nyarlathotep rubs at his chin, “if you let Izanagi do it, then of course.”

“Then that is what I want. I want you to use my powers, and forever seal away the demon’s gateway into Inaba, and I want for Izanagi to wipe out whatever is left.”

He grins maniacally, looking charmingly dangerous, and Yu just watches as he raises his hands up again in an exaggerated shrug. “Then, your will be done. To forever seal the demon gateway into Inaba, to keep one fraction of the Expanse from spilling through… You shall be bled dry of all powers blessed to you.”

They bring a hand up to their mouth and begin to cough, flower petals tearing their way out through Yu’s throat and into their hands. Leaves curl beneath and break out through their skin, rivers of blood escaping every wound in which flowers bloom. They curl over, clasp at their chest, and keep on coughing as Nyarlathotep magic runs it course.

“... and you shall never see the world you birthed into safety, Narukami Yu.”

…  
… …

To everyone’s surprise, the portal that yawns out over all of Inaba begins to slowly, agonisingly stitch shut. It grows small, shrinking continuously until it releases a blast of magic that wipes away all of the ashes, cleans the corpses and oozing remains, and disappears completely into nothingness. The investigation team run out, dumbfounded by what occurs, and they they are unable to bring their personas or demons out to kill whatever enemies are left behind as an unexpected fades into being.

Above them all stands Yu’s persona, Izanagi, who tears its helmet off and throws it aside - long, black hair flows within the harsh, cold wind and they can only briefly see the face of a handsome, yet arrogant man. He unsheathes his sword - one that Kanji, perhaps due to Take-Mikazuchi, can tell is not Ame-no-Ohabari - and sets about ruthlessly killing and wiping out the last of the demons, their bodies crumbling into dust and any blood immediately evaporating into the sky.

When there is no more left, Izanagi comes to a step and looks up towards the shining sun, the darkness introduced by the portal all but gone, and the barrier around Inaba falls once all is safe. The investigation team, sans Uchida, gasp as their personas flow out of their bodies and surround Izanagi, staring up at an endless sky, and one by one they shatter into a million shards that shimmer into nothingness.

Still Izanagi stands there, his black hair flowing within the now gentle winds of Inaba, and he turns eventually to face the investigation team. His eyes are wide and almond-shaped, lips thin and set within a flat line, and his face sharp and cheekbones high. There is not kindness in his gaze, nor the gentleness one will associate with Yu.

****“Inaba is now forever safe,” ****says Izanagi, his voice strong and demanding respect, ****“and yet Izanami still remains. You have been bought a few centuries worth of time.”**** he bows before them and, before everyone’s gaze, shatters and breaks into silvery flower petals, forever carrying away whatever answers he may have with him.

They are all stuck within a moment of shock and awe - for how little time they spend within this hell scape, the time now edging somewhere within the second day, it still feels surreal to think that it is all now over. They all take the time to just Inaba in - it will most definitely need help with repairs, but thankfully the residential district should be otherwise fine. Not many demons go there, what with Uchida and Naoto being quick-thinkers and finding a way to get people out with many casualties. Some still die but now their corpses are gone, cleansed by the implosion of the demon portal.

“Wait. Yu!” Yosuke cries out just as people are beginning to filter out of the hospital and he rushes back inside, the rest of the team hot on his heel as they rush their way up towards Yu’s room. The group has to push past a large group of people until Yosuke is busting in through the door, much to the on-duty officers’ surprise, and he stops and stares.

Still within their coma, with no change in heart rate or anything else, is Yu upon the hospital bed. Naoya sits next to them, his hands cradling one of Yu’s, and for a moment everyone is floored upon the morose expression on his face. He looks over to everyone, forces a smile, then looks back at Yu.

…

The group take turns visiting Yu, making sure not to bother the hospital that is still treating patients from the aftermath of what happens. Yu’s parents rush all the way here as well, barely even introducing themselves before beelining towards their child’s room. The mother breaks into tears upon seeing Yu unconscious, the father shedding tears as well even when he tries to comfort his wife.

Yu’s parents decide to live in Inaba ever since then, taking over the payment for Yu’s hospital stay from Chisato and the two visit them as often as they are able. Naoto eventually leaves Inaba as well, especially when Adachi appears out of nowhere and confesses to Uchida his guilt. Uchida follows after, finishing up all of her paperwork so that she may return to Sumaru City and continue life as normal.

She wishes everyone luck, visits Yu one last time to thank them for their hard work and give her prayers, and leaves extremely early in the morning. Rise lives normally in Inaba and endears herself to the group even further, her shyness slowly, slowly melting away to reveal a gentle, excitable and enthusiastic girl beneath. Kanji manages to find love, Yosuke being happy for him, and he finds it surprising how quickly the two of them become friends.

Kanji is nice, extremely so, and is surprisingly good with kids. Even though he has to keep him being gay a secret, he admits that he hopes to become a kindergarten teacher someday and help kids grow up, healthy and loved, and help boys like him accept themselves.

“So strange t’think we all ‘came friends this way,” Kanji tells him once, “and… s’weirder t’think that Yu-senpai hasn’t woken up yet.”

Yosuke can’t say anything to that, not really. He visits the most out of all of the investigation team and if anyone notices then no one asks why. Naoto calls him often, mostly because Chie points out how much he visits Yu in the hospital, and he gives her the same old tired update.

Yu is in a coma and shows no signs of waking up. Sometimes he sees Naoya there yet when Yosuke blinks he vanishes. That is about it. He doesn’t tell Naoto about how one day he sits next to Yu and clasps their hand in his own, squeezes, and takes a deep, shaky breath.

“Hey,” he says with a horrid voice crack, “I know you’re unconscious, and, I don’t really put much stake into that whole ‘they’ll hear you if you talk to them’ shtick when it comes to coma patients but I wanted to tell you this, just in case it somehow is true. I want to believe it, just this once. I miss you, a lot. Like, a lot, partner. I think about you all the time, or well, when I’m free to.

“I’m doing well, still trying to adjust to the fact that… this is all over and you’re still not awake. I never got to tell you this, and I don’t know when I will, but… but…” he swallows the lump in his throat down and rapidly blinks his eyes to fight the blurriness away, “I love you, Yu. I really, really do. I love you, more than you’ll ever know, and - and I wish I could confess to you while you were awake.”

He presses Yu’s hand against their forehead and lets tears slip out, releasing a shaky breath as he does. “… I miss you,” he sobs out, “make - make sure to wake up so- soon, okay? I miss you. I miss you so much.”

Years pass after that and Yu is still in their coma. Inaba has undergone quite a few repairs and Yu is not awake to see it, to see the results of their hard work, of their desire. The investigation team in Inaba make sure to talk to them about the change as much as possible, though the team’s presence dwindles when university starts. It is in that lull, when people cannot visit as often, that a nurse happens into Yu’s room only to see the bed empty, window shut, and all of Yu’s gifts still there.

Narukami Yu’s body goes missing from the hospital and is never found again. The cameras reveal that Yu simply _disappears _and the camera cannot catch it, footage messing up every time officers and hospital staff rewatch it.

_For a moment, Narukami Yu opens their eyes - but they are within the vast landscape of their mind, laying within an open-casket. Next to them is Naoya, who smiles down sadly at them and he places his hand on their own folded ones. _

_“Rest well, Yu.” Naoya says gently, “you have a long, long sleep ahead of you. Inaba is safe forever, because of you…_

_“Good work.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to [Blue Room](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKJA-D3ltPM&ab_channel=Arias1101) on repeat while writing this.


	56. Chapter 52 - Ending 3 - Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye.

Nyarlathotep is far more patient than Yu gives him credit for - they have been just simply sitting here after all, hair dancing with the realm of their unconsciousness. He doesn’t move, as still as a statue and Yu wonders if there is anything they can say to him to unnerve him. Every thought that comes to mind just makes them feel more and more tired, exhaustion settling deep into their bones.

“Who is this person?” Yu asks.

Nyarlathotep hums and taps his foot, delaying his answer just long enough that Yu starts to feel their temper flare. “Someone you know quite well.” he says eventually. “It isn’t anyone from your makeshift team, of course. It is someone you are very, very well acquainted with, someone who has been with you since the start and was the one who tried to steer you away from here.”

“... Naoya.” they say. “Please, let me see him, then.”

A vicious grin forms upon soft lips and Nyarlathotep bobs his head before he steps aside. Energy gathers behind where he stood before, the wind picking up so drastically that Yu has to spread their weight on their feet and bring their arms up to shield themself against the harsh gusts. Fog blows away from the spot in which energy gathers and bursts into a myriad of colours, dizzying Yu, and they lower their arms eventually.

Naoya’s head bows down, a butterfly half-mask sits upon his face when he rises to look upon Yu. He dresses finely, not as hap hazardously or as chaotic as before. He gives them a smile with a meaning unknown, the butterfly mask making him look different somehow - gone is his messy hair, now sleeked to make him look presentable and his eyes are partially hidden behind the mask that shrouds his face.

“It’s good to see you, Yu.” Naoya says with a short, respectful bow, “will you hear me out?”

There is a moment, or two, where they consider just saying no. A part of them wants to just be rid of this, to no longer have to deal with the whims of beings they do not understand, and instead just go to sleep - pretend nothing happens, just drift within their mind until they finally see dreams and not visions of the world.

They know they lack the capability to do such a thing, however. “Yes, yes I will.” they say, choosing not to focus on the thoughts that flutter about in their head, “what’s going to happen, Naoya-san?”

He looks out towards the window to the outside world, the sleeves of his shirt fluttering a little within the wind. “You can keep denying Izanami and Nyarlathotep forever,” Naoya says, “but you will eventually tire, and lose your tenuous grasp upon the human world. Should you die now, you will never see what will become of the world... and you will never bear witness the coming of demons.”

Leaves dance around the two of them, whispering across their clothes and whipping around past their heads. “And when your friends die, you will never be able to meet them after in death.”

They stare at him uncomprehendingly for a moment and Naoya stares back with an obviously sad smile, as though the entire situation is far more than what Yu realises it to be. “Can you - can you tell me what you mean?” Yu says and they have to fight back the urge to take a step closer to Naoya - Nyarlathotep is still here and they do not know what he will do if they get any closer.

"I told it to you at the very beginning," Naoya says gently, "and I told you, begged you, not to forget when you refused the opportunity I gave you to just... not go to Inaba. But then, what difference would you not going have made?"

Yu looks down at their hands, then back up towards Naoya, and he smiles sympathetically. "You told it to me in a dream," Yu says, "but I forgot - no, I couldn't hear it. I thought I did, but - did... I? Did I hear you?"

_You agree that you will give your soul to me at the end of your life._

They stare at him blankly, his words dawning upon them and they just stare, and stare, and stare, unable to do anything else but to try and digest the information that comes to the surface once again. Naoya looks upon them and meets their gaze evenly, even if he must realise - surely - that Yu should be angry over this. They should be trying to hit him right now, throw a punch, anything.

“Why?” is the only thing that comes out from their lips, the word soft and tired.

“Philemon isn’t who he used to be anymore,” he says factually, “Nyarlathotep is well aware as to why that is the case.” Naoya glances over to Nyarlathotep, who gives a sickening grin in return. He does not flinch from the malice pouring off of Nyarlathotep in waves, his expression ever patient and ever smiling.

Yu swallows loudly. “But why me? Was there a reason?”

Naoya looks to the side, sighs, and he brings a hand to his face and lifts the mask up. He covers his eyes with his palm, rubs at it, and then settles the mask back on. He turns to face Yu. “There was no reason,” he says plainly, “either you were going to Inaba, or someone else was, or another person. There are so many people in this world who could end up being the conduit. I wish I could tell you why, why you were chosen, and give you an answer that’ll make you happy...”

“But there isn’t one.”

“Yes. There is none at all.” he stretches hand out absent-mindedly, waving it around while he continues speaking, the mood of the area quite morose and dour now, “but, now, that is not why we are here. You want to save this world, don’t you? You want to defeat Izanami and bring a peace that will last for only a little while.”

Yu’s hair sways with the breeze, fluttering in front of their gaze and at times overtaking their vision of Naoya and Nyarlathotep. “Why?” Yu asks and Naoya leans back in surprise, “why does this have to happen? Why does the peace have to be temporary? I don’t understand why this can’t just _end. _Why the Gods, or demons, or angels, or whatever just... why can’t they hold back?”

It feels pathetic, having to constantly ask for ‘why’ and never being able to say something of worth, yet Naoya does not seem to mind. He just looks at them evenly, lips a tight line while he ponders over what to say to them. This world is a messed up one, Yu thinks, yet there is nothing that can be done about it.

“Someone will always want power,” Naoya says a bit uncertainly, like he doesn’t know if he should be answering this or not, but he keeps on going anyway, “a God or Goddess will look at this world and will want to do something to it. The Great Creator will stare down and judge all who live, and the Morning Star will rise up to start his rebellion, again and again. A God, or Goddess, will fall in love with or despise humanity and wish to shape it in their own vision.”

“For Izanami, the self-actualization of man was demonkind. Was she correct? Or was that her vision of humanity? Ascended humans who become demons to... what? Kill Gods for her? And then, what of the humans who don’t wish to ascend? And you’re telling me there’s more like her?”

Naoya smiles sardonically. “That’s the way of Godhood,” he says, “even those who ascend into it will eventually twist and change, forgetting who they used to be. I don’t really remember the past me, after all, and I’m not even a God.”

Yu shakes their head and clench their fists, making sure to keep their eyes on Naoya and ignore Nyarlathotep as they speak up again. “So, after me, will someone else be chosen?”

“Yes, and another after them, and another, and another, ad infinitum. Then, someone else will rise up to stop the end of the world, to help usher in a new era before the world resets back to the origin.”

“And that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“... okay.”

Naoya extends his hand out again, “there’s a truth the Gods and Goddesses won’t tell you, Yu. Humans are the ones that birthed the Godhood which brought forth demons and angels. Without humans, Godhood would never have existed, and these beings are well-aware. How else to ensure your continued existence than to manipulate?”

They straighten their spine upon hearing that and look up towards the ‘sky’, where they see nothing but thick clouds hiding darkness, then looks over to the side to stare at their friends struggling to contain the demons. “I want to save everyone,” Yu says, “what do I have to do, Naoya?”

“All you have to do is to confront yourself... and unseal one of the bindings tethering Izanagi to the depths, and his actual form shall be your persona. Use him, and seal both Izanami and him once you have won.

“Do you, Narukami Yu, know now the terms of this deal? For there is no going back should you take this step forward.” he reaches out towards him, gloved hand waiting for theirs to finalize the deal - for good, this time, and to ensure that Yu has the will to move forward, to plunge their soul to become nothing more than one of Naoya’s collection.

Are they willing to do this?

Yu looks up at him, at his outstretched left hand, and they raise their right hand up and grasp at his, giving him a firm shake while looking him in the eyes.

Yes. They are.

And so, Naoya smiles - the fog rapidly flies up and away towards the endlessly black sky, turning into a gentle rain does not drench their clothes, does not even feel like rain, and reminds them more of the caresses of their mom’s hand while she sings a lullaby to help them sleep.

“Return now to the isle of the self within the demon world, Narukami Yu.” both Naoya and Nyarlathotep say, even as the latter is not looking at either of them. “And... do not be worried should you see Adachi Tohru there as well. I am sure you will know what to do.” says Naoya and he watches as Yu fades into a million stars, transported over to the ‘TV world’ in which their shadow waits.

* * *

“Have any of you guys seen Teddie?” Yosuke asks the exhausted investigation team, his own breathing heavy and tired, and they all shake their heads. “I just... I haven’t seen him since at least an hour, now. Where could he be...?”

Uchida frowns, “I don’t know, but hopefully he doesn’t get in trouble with any of the humans here. He may be a demon, but he’s definitely not a violent one and if he answers wrong he may get shot with enough bullets to kill even him.”

“Don’t say that!” Rise cries out, “he’ll be fine, I know he will. He never wanders far, and... and the kids love him, and he’s keeping them happy. He’ll be fine, I know he’ll be fine.”

Yukiko sighs and sinks further into the uncomfortable waiting chair, heavy shadows around her eyes, “he may be fine, but we are not. It’s been a day and a half already... and we’re already having to eat demon meat. Is this demon infestation ever going to let up? I just want to be able to sleep... and then maybe figure out how to stop this.”

“I believe the only way for this to be stopped is if Yu-senpai wakes up.” Naoto says, “and... I hope they do, soon. I do not wish for the rest of the world to know this, nor for Inaba to be forever swarmed with demons...”

Chie rubs at bloody nose, having refused treatment from Yosuke, Yukiko, and Rise until they all rest up and she uses her own very weak healing magic to heal herself a little, “I wonder what Yu-kun’s dreaming of... and I wonder if Naoya’s in those dreams, too.”

“I just want the bloodshed t’end, dude...” Kanji says with a slow sigh, head bowing down, “I... I never thought I’d se real people die... I never thought...”

“It’s okay,” Uchida places a hand on Kanji’s shoulder, gently squeezing it to help calm him down and keep him from crying, “it’s okay. Yu-kun will wake up soon, and everything will hopefully be okay. Just have hope. Don’t give up.”

* * *

The TV world is exactly as they remember it. There is no fog, there is no rain, and the lack of demons is utterly deafening. They know not where they are, not the exact area, and they look around and realise that this isn’t in any area that they recognise. The last time they go to their palace is because Adachi throws them in and they just naturally end up there - and now? Now they see no Teddie and they don’t know where to go.

They decide to simply walk. What else is there to do than to go forward? They walk through the eerily empty TV world, no demonic chatter nor anyone else to help guide them along. There is nothing but the echoing sound of their own footsteps as they keep on going forward. It doesn’t take long for them to notice a familiar figure within the distance and they break out into a sprint, their chest constricting from the sudden exertion.

He turns around to face them - black hair, grey eyes, and an otherwise unassuming face. He startles when Yu runs right up at him, rear their fist back, and closes his eyes and braces himself. The punch never lands and Yu, instead, slaps his cheek hard enough to make it go red and whip Adachi’s face to the side.

“... I deserved that.” is the only thing Adachi says, his voice small in comparison to the vastness of the TV world. “Hey, kid.” he says while cradling his sore cheek and Yu glares at him. They take a step back and square their shoulders, trying to soothe their racing heart and breathe slowly to calm their nerves. “You looking for your palace?”

Yu stays quiet. “Look, I know - I know the last thing I did completely broke your trust in me, I know.” Adachi begins, talking a little too fast but otherwise normal sounding, and Yu says nothing. “You wanna take Izanami down, don’t you?” he takes a step back and starts to pat himself down - he grabs his gun and throws it onto the ground and kicks it hard to the side, almost sending it flying far away. He rips his jacket off and throws it away and tears at his sleeves, as though trying to prove a point.

“I got nothing on me,” he says, “I rejected her offer. I swear I did. I don’t even have a guardian or whatever she fucking called them to summon. “ Adachi looks at them with a look they’ve never seen on his face before and their own expression falls. The two of them look upon each other like that for a while - Adachi with that far too sorrowful look on his face, heightened only by the red swelling on his cheek, and Yu looking confused and a bit overwhelmed from his stare.

“Just this one time, trust me. I know where your palace is - I can take you there. There ain’t no one else you can see here, right?” Yu swallows. “It’s been almost two days already, kid. It’s been two days since you were knocked out, and the hospital’s already running out of supplies. You have to trust me.”

They take in a deep breath, look around and continue to see nobody, before they stare up at Adachi again - he looks so much smaller like this, hunched over and his clothes slightly ruined. “Will you give yourself up to the authorities, Adachi?” Yu says.

He gives a quiet nod.

“... then take me to my palace. But - but if you don’t, I swear to - I swear, I swear I will kill you. I will kill you if I have to. I will.”

“I believe you, kid, I really do.” is the only thing Adachi says before he turns on his heel and starts leading the way. He stays quiet throughout their entire trek and Yu looks around the demon world - the statues are still there but there is no more life here. Whatever demons that were here on the supposed ‘isle of the self’ are now all but gone.

There is no reason for them to say anything but they do have the time to think - to think over everything that happens in this wild, wild past year or so of their life. Their classmates, the bullying, them moving, meeting all these wonderful people, this mystery, the TV world, the Midnight Channel... a part of them cannot help but wonder if any of this matters anymore. What is there waiting for them after death? Nothing, nothing at all. And what does this mean for them, then...? If nothing waits for them when they die but to be given up to Naoya...

Many people give meaning to their living selves so that they may be able to see their loved ones in death, to be reunited with friends, families or lovers, or to simply pass on into a better world knowing that they lived a good, long life. Yet for a person like Yu... their death is wholly decided, now. They made an agreement long ago, an agreement they do not remember and perhaps it is at the meddling of Nyarlathotep that they forget.

If there is nothing waiting for them in death, then what of life? Will they be able to keep on living like this? Can they? All they do is think, like they have during their [surprising long] stay within that space between spaces.

What else is left for them, at this moment, but to think?

They are at their palace before they know it and Adachi comes to a stop, silent still. It is the same black, monolithic thing as ever, yet there is a stark difference - their Shadow stands outside the entryway into their palace, tears wetting its face and its appearance even more haggard, worn-down. Yu tries not to look away, tries not to avoid familiar scars and wounds, the dried mud and grime.

Each step they take echoes within their head, thundering alongside their rapid heartbeat, and Yu stops before the self that they rejected. Their Shadow stands there, hair long and oily, skin unwashed and its eyes streaming with unstoppable tears. **“Welcome back.” **it says, in lieu of anything else, and Yu cannot help but give a helpless smile as they, too, start crying.

Their raise their hands up, hesitate, and the wrap their arms around their Shadow, much to its surprise. “I’m home,” Yu says softly, quiet enough so that Adachi won’t hear, “and I’m sorry it took me so long to come back.”

It returns the embrace tightly, crying into Yu’s shoulder as it does. They simply hold onto the self whom they rejected for so long and let it cry, holding the Shadow protectively as they do. Change washes over them both - something kind cleanses the Shadow as it separates from them and gives one last, watery smile before it turns shimmering lights, and Yu closes their eyes and bows their head down as they feel something within their soul shift.

They can feel magic dancing across their hair, making it grow out longer, while also changing the outfit they wear - it is to nothing special, no. If anything, they are dressed more similarly to a soldier from long, long ago. Something snaps inside of their spirit and they close their eyes as they finally feel Izanagi’s gentle touch.

How long have they been fighting side by side, only for their persona to never acknowledge them as everyone else’s has? How long have they gone on, never hearing Izanagi’s voice, only for him to speak to Take-Mikazuchi without Yu’s prompting?

A long time, that is for sure.

Yu opens their eyes to look at the persona that emerges from the sea of their soul and stare up at the being before them - long black hair swims along nonexistent air, leather armour adorns most of his body with only few protective plates on him. His face is sharp, handsome, and yet arrogant all the same.

So this is Izanagi they think, floating above them in all his splendour. He carries himself nobly, as a royal should, and Yu watches as he slinky descends down to be on even level with Yu. He is much, much taller than a human should be, and yet he still bows before them.

**“You have awakened but a part of me, Narukami Yu... yet that part is yours, for now. I am thou, thou art I. Though I know the fate that awaits me once this is all over, I shall aide you in slaying she whom was once my beloved, and bring an end to this. We need only to find my blade...”**

“No need.” Adachi says and both persona and user turn to face him. He holds in his hands a sheathe and sword and Izanagi takes it without prompting, seemingly satisfied with what he feels and senses. “Izanami had this and I swiped it when she wasn’t paying attention.”

Yu turns to fully face him. “Why are you doing this?” they ask.

“... want me to be honest here, kid? I don’t even know. Didn’t feel right, never did, and... well, couldn’t handle it, knowing you’re in a coma and Nanako and Chisato know that I did it. I failed your promise kid, and... I’m sorry.” they blink in surprise at the genuine admission and step back a little at the sincere yet sad smile on Adachi’s face. “Guess this is what guilt feels like, huh?”

They take a step forward, then another, then another, until there is but a metre long gap between them and Adachi. “Hey, kid,” he says softly, “d’ya hate me?”

“I should,” they say, “but even I can’t tell anymore. You’ve hurt me, you’ve made all of this really, really hard. You’ve made me feel like _shit. _I tried to tell myself it was because of me, never you - Chisato _loved _you like her brother, and I thought that it was all in my head.” Adachi flinches. “But I don’t know how to feel anymore. I’m mad at you for all the bullshit you put me through, and I think I always will be, and I won’t be able to forgive you. Not for a good long while, maybe never. The you of now doesn’t deserve it.

“Give yourself in, Adachi, and fix your own fucking mistakes.”

They walk away from him before he can even offer to take them somewhere that will lead them out and find themself wandering in the vast emptiness again. Izanagi sits within the middle of their heart, humming alongside their heartbeat, and - for a moment - they don’t feel alone. They think they are stuck, bound to wander forever, and consider whether or not they should yell out for Adachi’s name when a familiar voice calls out for them.

“Sensei?” Teddie’s boyish voice says and Yu’s eyes snap up from the floor, almost giving themself whiplash. Teddie stands before them, paws rubbing together, and he is _smiling. _He extends one paw out for Yu to grab and they take it, unthinkingly, and they can’t help but feel safe. “Let’s go save everyone, Sensei.”

“Yeah.” they smile. “Let’s.”

* * *

They are all within the meeting room, huddled together around a table otherwise used by the hospital staff for their usual meetings for mundane, normal things. Now, however, the group takes it for their own and they are having another gathering to try and figure out what to do. It is the third day now and there is still no sign of an end to the demons.

It is during this meeting that someone bursts into the investigation team’s room, panting and gasping as she does. “Narukami Yu!” she gasps out and everyone sits up immediately, “they - they aren’t in their hospital room anymore.”

“What do you mean?!” Yosuke slams his hands on the table and stands up, “where’s Naoya?!”

“He - he’s outside the hospital. But he didn’t kidnap Narukami Yu!” she says, breathing heavy, “he’s outside... because Narukami Yu is_ awake. _And they - they told me to find you. To tell you to help them.”

It doesn’t take even a second before everyone, except for Uchida, is rushing out of the room and pushing past everyone else. The group are all careful as to not bump into anyone, trip or hurt anyone else and they all nearly fall over themselves as they burst through the door of the hospital.

Standing there, in all their glory, is Yu - a smiling Yu with long hair and wearing some sort of traditional, military outfit while their persona floats above them, looking radically different as well. Naoto is the one who makes the first step forward, her eyes unable to focus on either Yu nor the persona.

“Senpai?” she says, “is that really you?”

Yu’s smile widens, looking the happiest anyone has ever seen them. “Yeah,” their familiar voice flies through the air, gentle and soothing, “I’m home.”

“Welcome home.” the group responds.

“Let’s go kick some demon ASS!” Kanji calls out, all exhaustion flying out the window.

“We’re gonna teach the dirtbag behind this a lesson!” Chie agrees eagerly and she slams a fist into her palm. “Now that we’re all here together... ain’t nothing that can stop us now!”

“You’re really here.” Yosuke says as they approach Yu, mouth opening and closing uncertainly as no words come out to express his gratitude over seeing them again.

“Will you lead us again, Yu-kun?” Yukiko says while she approaches them.

“And... and will you be okay?” Rise asks shyly, looking indescribably scared and worried.

Yu nods their head and turns around, looking out towards the warzone that outside has become, and they raise their head up high. “The one behind this is the great Izanami,” Yu says calmly, “and I am going to call her down here. With Izanagi’s sword and everyone’s strength... we’ll win. I’m sure of it.”

“You have my support.” Uchida says, “but I don’t think this is a fight I can take part in.”

“That’s fine. I just need you to make sure nothing gets to us why we are fighting her... and we can finally put this nightmare behind us.”

It takes a lot of work for Yu to be able to fight their way through the demons that wish to jump onto them and devour them, yet with everyone’s support they are able to push their way through. Izanagi does not hesitate to appear once they are at a clear opening, nothing but limp piles of demon corpses surrounding them and Yu unsheathes their own sword and hold it up high, following after the example of their persona.

“Izanami!” both their voices roar out and cracks appear beneath their feet at the mention of her name. Kanji and Chie are quick to rush up ahead, taking up the space in front of Yu as like their body guards. Yukiko, Naoto, and Yosuke are the farthest behind with Rise taking up a middle ground, her gaze determined as everyone else’s.

Uchida is their back-up, the one to make sure that no demon gets in the way of this fight, and Yu takes in a deep breath. “We call upon you here now, Izanami no Mikoto! Face Izanagi no Mikoto and I, so that you may both be sealed away eternally!”

Mist flows out in waves from the cracks on the ground, a fog so cold that Yu cannot help but shiver, and they lower their sword and settle into a battle stance. They watch as the fog swirls and turns into a fierce, yet small tornado that releases a burst of overwhelming pressure, nearly causing Yu’s knees to buckle.

Izanami rises up from the bowels of the Earth, head bowed down and skin peeling and degrading away rapidly, flesh melting and dripping off of her bones. She raises her head up, her wiry hair parting to reveal to them all her ghastly, skeletal face - the Goddess scorned and betrayed by her husband comes to a stand over them all, reeking and emanating of death. Izanagi does not falter and, thus, neither does Yu.

**“So you are finally, finally here, Izanagi.”**

There are no pleasantries to be exchanged, at least not for long. Izanagi responds with a deafening silence and Izanami...

She responds by releasing a horrific screech before lunging over to Yu, her body shattering into many jagged, rough pieces and Kanji is diving in front of them immediately, taking the tens of blows upon Take-Mikazuchi’s sturdy body. They are all blown back as Izanami further pushes them back with great, almighty pressure.

Her body peels back, arms spread open while her deathly wails echo with overwhelming force, and Rise pounces forward and waves her wooden sword in Chie’s direction after they both share a look. Himiko appears only briefly to give to Tomoe a blessing, allowing Chie to rush up to Izanami before she can react and land a solid kick upon her stomach with their combined prowess.

Yosuke takes that as an opportunity to skid forward and gather lightning with his palms, Rise jumping in as well to officer her own ice powers and they both slam it down onto Izanami and her body twists, contorting horrifically, as lightning troubles across what veins she has left and ice pierces through her like a million knives.

Her hanging, crooked jaw spreads wide open and releases another gargling, shrieking burst of power - her hands whip out like butcher knives, equally as sharp and both Yu and Kanji barely manage to dodge at the strike that slashes at their clothes and makes blood splurt liberally from otherwise shallow wounds.

Yu screeches soon after when something bubbles and boils in their newly gotten wound and they stumble back, gagging from the overwhelming pain that sears their veins from the inside. Kanji writhes to their side, suffering from the same affliction as theirs - and Yukiko swoops in with Konohana Sakuya’s healing prowess to soothe the pain away.

They can feel the affliction retreating and they look down at their arm. Kanji takes Izanami’s momentary pause when she gathers her breath to ram into her and force her back, stopping her wail for a moment while the ghastly, rotten Goddess stumblse back.

“Senpai!” Naoto calls out, “with me!”

It takes Yu only a split second to realise she refers to the ball of almighty magic that is gathering in front of them. She raises her pistol, aims it at the orb, and squeezes the trigger. Yu sprints in with their own sword, lightning gathering at their blade, and Izanagi strikes at the same time that the Sukuna-Hikona enhanced gun and blade both soar through the magic she conjures and sears into the body of Izanami.

The gurgling, wet shriek that escapes Izanami this time is one of pain and she desperately skuttles her heaving body away, to which Rise responds by enhancing Chie’s kick with frost so that it shatters into sharp pieces within Izanami when she flies at the Goddess once more.

Another almighty strike hammers down onto Izanami’s legs and shatter it into a million fragments, her body toppling over and landing with a thunderous crash against the ground.

**“Why?!” **Izanami cries out, her many hands cradling her body as she tries to crawl away, a trail of rot oozing out where her legs once were, **“you’ve sold your soul away just to fight me!? Why! I could have saved you! You could have had freedom, the free will to fight the Great Creator and all of his mindless puppets! You will never be at peace if you don’t defy the Gods!”**

“What is she talking about?” Chie asks while bouncing on both feet, hands up and fists curled and at the ready to go in should Yu give her the signal to.

They don’t. Instead, take slow, deliberate steps towards Izanami, their sword still in hand, and Izanagi rises up from within them. “You would lead everyone down an endless war against the Great Creator and the Angels, wouldn’t you?” Yu says, “you’d say you’re against the Morning Star, but you would join him if it meant defying the Great Creator.”

**“I would be giving humanity a chance of freedom against the Great Will!” **Izanami hisses out, **“the world is at His mercy, at the hands of the Great Will, and we shall never, ever be free of Him unless we defy Him and the Gods who yearn for His power. I care only for the fate of man - for man deserves better than to be manipulated by Him!”**

“Your words ring as hollow as your own withering bones, Izanami no Mikoto. There is no truth to your words, nothing but the hypocritical declarations of a Goddess desperate to be as praised as the other Gods, wishing for revenge.

**“How righteously you hold yourself. Are you so righteous that you do not even care about your eternal soul?”**

Yu takes in a deep breath. “No. The only thing that matters is that you are _gone, _Izanami no Mikoto. And if I have to give up my soul for it, then I will do it a million times. If my punishment was to make sure you never escaped... I would do it gladly, and for the rest of my life.”

They take a step forward.

She tries to take this as an opportunity to slam Yu between both her hands and crush them as they walk closer to her. They raise their sword to their side and slash it within an arcing motion as a cacophony of lightning bolts surround them and eats through Izanami’s bones, causing her to wail even further in pain.

**“Izanami,” **Izanagi says, his voice cold and lacking the empathy they expect him to have, **“your time is at an end.”**

She gives a mocking laugh as she curls further into herself, screaming and writhing as Izanagi rains lightning bolt upon lightning bolt on her prone figure. Smoke curls from her body that smells of cooked carcasses and fetid leftovers. Yu tries not to gag from being so close to the stench.

**“Will you join me in my Hell, beloved? Or shall you take the high-ground once more?”**

Izanagi raises his sword above his head, Yu echoing the motion. **“There will be no exemptions for even I. Within the bowels of this Earth, I shall toil along with you, Izanami.” **his sword falls down with one fell swoop and slams down onto her throat, beheading her. The world around them warps and her body begins to drain the area of all the ashes and demons, thousands of them releasing a cacophony of pain and anger as they are absorbed into Izanami’s glowing form.

Yu takes in a deep breath and stabs their own sword into Izanami’s body. Their blade lights up and the investigation team can only watch as their own personas leave without even one final goodbye. They feel the demons from their mind fading and witness Izanagi fall onto his knees, his form sharing the same glow as their sword. Their armour fades away, returning to the normal clothes they wore, yet their hair stays long, familiar.

Then, with a simple blink of the eye... he is gone. Everything that has to do with the demons... they are all _gone. _The barrier cracks and falls apart, fresh air filtering through to cleanse the ash and foul stench near immediately and they gaze up at the clear blue sky. People filter out of the hospital, into the ruins left behind, and loud cheering is soon to follow when the threats are all gone.

Naoya is in front of them when they look forward and, for a moment, they swear they hear Pianist-San’s somber playing. They can hear Belladonna’s humming, hear Igor’s grandfatherly voice.

“Good work.” he says proudly, a wide, lovely smile on his face, “you did so well, Yu. Cherish your life, for as long as you can... and I hope you find it in you to forgive me for this deal.”

They can’t smile, not really, not when they know what Naoya is talking about. Their friends gather around behind them yet not surrounding Yu, knowing better than to interrupt. Yosuke comes close, however, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Yu, and a wave of calmness and exhaustion overtakes them.

“When my friends die,” Yu says, “I won’t meet them in death, will I?”

Naoya’s body is slowly going transparent, disappearing from the world, and his smile turns sad, apologetic. “No, you won’t.” he looks up at the sky, “but you will never be forgotten, even as the people of Inaba shall never remember what happened here. Live your life as best as you can, and never forget who you are, Narukami Yu.”

He is completely gone now and with his absence follows a soothing crawl of magic. The town is completely repaired within seconds, people falling back into familiar habits and all injuries healed. Though the dead shall never come back, Yu has a feeling that they will still be mourned - or so they hope.

They close their eyes...

And pass out.

They see Teddie one last time, much to Yu’s surprise. He looks up at Yu with a big smile, though his form is incorporeal and rapidly disappearing. “Do you think... do you think I’ll ever meet sensei again? As a human?” Teddie says to them, his voice echoing and far-away. “You’re the bestest friend Teddie ever had. The bestest sibling ever.”

“I’m sure we’ll meet again,” Yu says with a watery smile and glossy gaze, “I know we will.”

“... goodbye, Sensei.”

There is a period of time in which no one knows how to refer to Yu, trying to adjust to the fact that they are not a boy like everyone thought them to be, and for a minute they try to tell everyone to simply keep on referring to them as a boy if it makes it easier. Everyoen responds with a vehement “does it make you comfortable?” to which Yu follows with a long silence and a meek ‘no’.

The acceptance everyone showers them with, the love, the fact that them being x-gender dosen’t change anything... they break into tears in the middle of everyone and Yosuke is the one who rushes in to hug them, holding them even as they cried and sobbed out _thank you _over and over and over again.

Chisato and Nanako remember what happened - or, the former remembers entirely and the latter only little pieces. Chisato looks hollow from the fact that Adachi is not as good a person as she thought him to be but still appreciates the good memories he leaves behind for her. She will never forgive him for being a leading factor in all this, even if it is at the manipulations of Izanami - after all, there has to be a desire for her deceit to work.

Graduating from high-school after everything that happens feels surreal to Yu. They agree to stay for one more week to be able to say their goodbyes to all their friends before they leave for the city, to go back home and just cry in their mom and dad’s arms and hopefully process everything. But for now, it is time to say their goodbyes to everyone.

They are surprised, briefly, when Yukiko and Chie confess to them that the two have been dating in secret but Yu simply wishes them well and in turn thanks them for not hating them for being an x-gender. Chie punches them in the shoulder and Yukiko promises that she will never hate Yu, no matter their identity.

It warms their heart.

Kanji thanks them for being as accepting as they were of him, trying to sound all proper and polite. Yu responds by ruffling his hair and messing it up, telling him to “always be proud of yourself, but never be ashamed of having to play it safe and hide.”

They wish Kanji the opportunity to always be happy, to find someone to share his life with, and to love himself for who he is.

Rise is quietly accepting of the fact that Yu has to go back, though they promise to always message her whenever they can. She talks, briefly, about how strange it is to be herself and not someone else, not having to play a role, and she admits to sometimes missing the ‘Risette’ who kept her company and helped her cope.

“I’m... gonna try and live normally, even if I get home-schooled. I’ll make you and everyone else proud, senpai. I promise.”

Naoto has to leave Inaba eventually, though she does so with great hesitation and only after talking to Yu for a while, talking about how freeing it is to dress however she wants and refer to herself in whatever way makes her happiest.

“Don’t ever be afraid of being who you are,” Naoto says thoughtfully, “... what a novel concept, isn’t it, Yu-senpai?”

She will leave within two weeks, she says, and gives her her goodbyes. There is nothing that can keep her here any longer and her father will want her home, this she knows, especially when a haggard looking Adachi comes up to the police station and confesses. They see him one last time, being put into a cop car so that they can drive him off to court, and he smiles sadly at Yu.

They don’t know what will become of him.

Uchida pays them and Chisato one last visit, hugs Nanako, wishes the best for Yu, and then says that she knows a therapist that is aware of all the demon business and is willing to help devil summonerse (and persona users!) for free. Yu takes the card she waves at them and considers her offer, then thanks her for it.

She is gone before anyone else sees her again.

Yosuke is the one they are the most reluctant to part with. His gaze is so tender when Yu approaches them, his hands gently wrapping around theirs and he squeezes. It doesn’t feel wrong for him to hold their hands, for him to just savour the moment and look at Yu like they are the most important thing in the world.

It makes them blush, even if they will vehemently deny it if anyone is to ask.

“... I hate seeing it as a way of saying goodbye - but, well, it’s the only way I’ve confessed to someone, huh?” Yosuke says and Yu’s eyes widen, their heartbeat rattling their ribcage with how hard it’s pounding, “hey, partner.” he smiles beatifically, lighting his face up so wonderfully that Yu can’t help but feel shy. “I love you. More than you think, probably, and... I hope, someday, you’ll be able to love me back too.

“And even if you don’t, I’ll be happy even if you’re just my friend. No matter what, you’re my partner, above everything else. I’d never be able to hate you.”

They smile bashfully at the ground before bringing their combined hands up to press it against their forehead, trying to hide their expression. “Can you please give me some time?” Yu says, “it’s... I’ve had a really, really hard time lately, and... thank you. Thank you for being so kind to me, thank you - thank you for liking someone... someone like - like -- _me._”

Yosuke holds them when they break out into tears, sobbing into his chest as they do, and he hugs them and waits for their sobs to die down while saying soothing platitudes. He helps them home after, on the final night that they will stay in Inaba, and wishes them the best.

On the day that they are to board the train, the investigation team is there again. With Yu’s permission, even gives them a huge group hug just minutes before their train arrives.

“No matter what, we’ll be waitin’ for ya, so don’t keep us for long, ya got that!?” Kanji says just before Yu boards the train and sits down in their seat.

They peer out the window and watch as everyone waves, yelling out sentences that Yu can’t really hear but can feel the sentiment of regardless. They smile and wave as well, watching as their friends run along with the train for as long as they can before the group is at the end of the platform. Yu can still see everyone’s smiles kilometres and kilometres away. They lean their head against the train window, hug their bag to their chest, and they wonder if they’ll be able to handle being away from everyone.

_‘I’ll come back,’ _Yu thinks while they look out towards the changing scenery, _‘I’ll come back... and I’ll always be able to talk to them, even if only digitally...’_

_And so, Narukami Yu makes the choice to continue to live their life to their fullest, hoping to someday see their friends again and eventually tell Yosuke how they feel after they sort their thoughts out. They vow to move forward, to never linger on regrets for as long as they are able, and to rely on others._

_Even if they shall never see their friends again in death... they have a long, long life ahead of them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it's finally over, huh? Over a year and a month in the making, a fic borne of mostly frustrations towards the series, strangely enough. I find this fic so near and dear to my heart now, and I never thought it would change the way it did. This is one of the longest stories I've ever written, and... honestly, I don't know what to say.
> 
> This was a difficult fic to write, it really was. The plot kept constantly changing, a lot of character arcs were uncertain and unclear, and I didn't know what to do with over half of the cast. Would you believe me if I said I had an entirely different plot point at some point? That I never intended for Yosuke to fall in love? That I never planned for even a half-baked Adachi redemption?
> 
> None of this was supposed to happen, really. But you know what? I'm glad it did. I really, really am. This challenged me, made me feel a lot of emotions, and I fell in love with what I was writing and really, really enjoyed it. Maybe when I'm not tired, and it's not 2:20 am here, I'll post even more in depths note of how this made me feel, but for now
> 
> Thank you for coming along on this wild, long journey.
> 
> And goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> Be Your True Mind
> 
> **Edit [2020/11/16]:** My fic is now capable of being commented on by both registered and unregistered/guest users! Sorry, I didn't actually realise I had that turned off.
> 
> Please leave behind a review/comment so that I know what you think!


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